GX Goes Pokemon
by AgentApril
Summary: A mysterious/evil entity invades the Pokemon world, so Professor Oak calls up his good friend Chancellor Shepard. Shepard recognizes whats happening and asks the GX gang to help. Who will stay and who will go and what new adventures await? AU Season 3.
1. Trouble

**Sorry 4 my other stories. I'll update one soon, PROMISE!**

**Okay, so Sheppard gets a phone call from his good friend Professor Oak. Turns out, something familiar is wreaking havoc in the Pokémon world, and they need help ASAP. So Sheppard sends the gang to help take care off it.**

**Takes place at the very beginning of the third season. So basically, the third season with a different plotline. And Viper's there, he's just not helping out Yubel, who is still in outer space.**

**I don't own GX or Pokémon. Never have, never will.**

GXGXGX

"Hello?" Chancellor Sheppard picked up his off-white phone at the sound of the ring. "Sheppard speaking."

After a pause: "Oh my! That's dire, indeed."

Another pause. "No, I don't think…wait. I may know just the kids. Resourceful, skilled, flexible—_and_ they've dealt with this kind of thing before."

Pause again. "Yes, come right away. Give them a day to make their decision. I'll request their presence in my office right away. Thank you." Sheppard hung up and pressed a button on the phone stand, calling his secretary. "Barb? Can you send Jaden Yuki, Syrus Truesdale, Tyranno Hassleberry, Chazz Princeton, Alexis and Atticus Rhodes, and Aster Phoenix to my office, please? Thank you."

GXGXGX

"Exactly _what_ are we here for?" Chazz mumbled as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall outside of Sheppard's office. Everyone except for Aster had gathered outside of Sheppard's office. "And where's Mr. Snob? Wasn't he called too?"

"_That's_ the pot calling the kettle black," Syrus murmured under his breath.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Chazz screamed.

"Nothing!" Syrus yelped. "Hey, Jay, why'd you invite the others, anyway?" Syrus was referring to Jesse, Jim, Adrian, and Axel, all of whom Jaden had brought with him, but none of whom had been called.

"Well, they're the best from their schools, right?" Jaden glanced at the four transfers, who nodded. "If it's one of those evil thingies, they might be able to help."

Hassleberry snorted. "If it was something evil, Short Fry over here wouldn't have been drafted!"

Syrus glared and was about to respond when Aster trotted toward them. "Hey, dudes. Do ya know what this is all about?"

Alexis shook her head. "No. None of us know why in the world we were—"

"Wait…" Atticus interrupted his sister. "Aster, I thought you went back to the Pro Circuit."

Aster frowned. "I wasn't supposed to go back until tomorrow. I just hope this _doesn't_ involve an 'evil thingy' as Jaden so eloquently put it. I'll have to stay _here_ for even longer."

"I don't know what you're talking about, mate." Jim grinned and pushed up his hat. "It's no South Academy, but this place is awesome!"

"That coming from the guy who walks around with a 10,000-pound croc on his back." Aster smirked.

Shirley growled. Jim reached behind himself and patted her side. "Relax, girl, he didn't mean it."

"Oh, you can bet I—" Before Aster could finish, the door to Sheppard's office opened.

Chancellor Sheppard himself poked his head out and gazed at he students gathered. "Oh good, you're here. Come in, quickly." He opened the door all the way and retreated back to his desk. The group of teens glanced at one another and followed him.

"Chancellor, what's wrong?" Jaden asked. "Is it another save-the-world-and-not-to-mention-the-fate-of-mankind-thing?

"Ye—" Suddenly, Sheppard noticed Jesse, Jim, Axel, and Adrian. "What are you four doing here? I don't believe I invited you."

"Nope." Jesse grinned. "Jay did. He said that if it was an evil thingy, ya'll could use all the help ya'll could get."

"He's right, we can." Sheppard sighed. "But you are unfamiliar with the threat _and_ the location."

"Is that why you summoned _me_?" Aster blinked. "I've been all over the world."

"True, but that's not why." Sheppard closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "You see, should you accept this mission, you will be going somewhere…not _of_ this world."

"Sweet!" Jaden cheered while everyone else gasped. "Is it Neospace? Cause I've been _there_."

Sheppard shook his head and Jaden's face fell.

"But…if none of us have ever been there…_none_ of us are familiar with the location," Alexis pointed out.

"Now that you mention it…you're absolutely right, Alexis!" Sheppard laughed. "Sure, you kids can go—but on one condition. You must, must, _must_ get permission from your schools and parents. I was lucky to even be able to arrange this meeting of the Duel Academies."

"Yee-ha!" Jesse cheered.

"Alright!" Jim cried.

"What are we waiting for?" Adrian asked. "Let's call up our parents."

"Yeah, come on." Axel nodded as the four students raced out of the room.

"Now, the rest of you have a choice to go, just like them," Sheppard announced when the others were gone. "However, we are taking a half a year of school from you **(A/N: Instead of going to the unknown alternate dimension and coming back, they'll be going to the Pokémon dimension and coming back)** so that you can do this, so choose wisely. However, before I force you to choose, I will tell you a little something of the threat and the world…of Pokémon."


	2. Pokeiwhat?

**Still don't own either of 'em.**

**And I got Sheppard's explanation from the Fire Red Pokémon game (I put quotes in ****UNDERLINE****)…which I don't own (well I do own a **_**copy**_**, but that's different).**

GXGXGX

LAST TIME…

"_Now, the rest of you have a choice to go, just like them," Sheppard announced when the others were gone. "However, we are taking a half a year of school from you __**(A/N: Instead of going to the unknown alternate dimension and coming back, they'll be going to the Pokémon dimension and coming back)**__ so that you can do this, so choose wisely. However, before you must choose, I will tell you a little something of the threat and the world…of Pokémon."_

GXGXGX

"Poke-i-_what_?" Jaden raised an eyebrow. "I'm confused."

Chazz snorted. "_That's_ a shock."

"Oh, and you're not any less confused?" Alexis snapped.

"Boys and…Alexis…break it up!" Chancellor Sheppard interrupted. "Poké_mon_, Jaden. The world of Pokémon is a strange and wondrous place. In the world which you are about to enter, you will embark on a grand adventure with you as the hero."

"Really?!" Jaden cheered. "Alright!"

Sheppard ignored him. "New paths will open to you by helping people in need, overcoming challenges, and solving mysteries. At times, you will be challenged by others and attacked by wild creatures. Be brave and keep pushing on. Now, I think I'll let my good friend, Professor Oak, explain the rest."

Chancellor Sheppard pushing a button on his flat screen TV and a static-y image of a man with gray hair and lab coat appeared. "Sorry for the bad connection. Inter-dimension transmissions aren't very clear—he was going to come here in person, but something got messed up on his end; it'll be fixed soon, though. Take it away, Professor."

The man on the TV began to speak. "Thank you, Chancellor." He turned to the GX group. "Hello there! Glad to meet you! Welcome to the world of Pokémon! My name is Oak, as I'm sure your Chancellor has told you already. But most people affectionately refer to me as the Pokémon Professor. This world…is inhabited far and wide by creatures called Pokémon."

The man—Professor Oak—pulled out a red and white ball from his pocket. Suddenly, a creature popped out of it. It resembled a raccoon with zigzag stripes. Most of the duelists watching yelped or jumped in surprise. "This specimen is called a 'Zigzagoon.'" Most of the spectators were too stunned to speak.

"For some people, Pokémon are pets," Professor Oak continued. "Others use them for battling. As for myself…I study Pokémon as a profession." He sucked the "Zigzagoon" back into the ball. "But first, tell me a little about yourselves. What are your names?"

Silence.

Sheppard nudged Chazz, the closest. "Ch-Chazz. Chazz P-Princeton." He was still in shock, as was everyone else.

Chazz nudged Jaden, who was standing next to him. "Jaden Yuki!" Jaden blurted.

Jaden nudged Syrus next. They would continue this until everyone said their names. "S-S-Syrus T-T-Truesdale."

"Sargent Tyranno Hassleberry, SIR!" Hassleberry barked.

"Uh…Alexis Rhodes."

"I'm her big bro, Atticus!" Atticus flashed a thumbs-up and leaned down to Alexis. "This is so _cool_!"

"I'm Aster Phoenix." Aster smirked. "Child prodigy, dueling extraordinaire."

Everyone except for Chancellor Sheppard and Professor Oak groaned and rolled their eyes.

"WE'RE HERE!" Suddenly, Jesse, Jim, Axel, and Adrian burst into the door. "AND WE ALL GOT PERMISSION…I think." Jesse mumbled the last part, unsure of who had gotten permission and who hadn't.

"Then introduce yourselves," Chancellor Sheppard instructed gesturing toward the TV.

"Crikey!" Jim exclaimed. "Who's the old geezer?"

"Jim!" Chancellor Sheppard gasped, mortified.

Professor Oak simply laughed. "No worries, I get that a lot. Well, not the 'crikey' part, but other than that…anyway, who are you four?"

"I'm Jesse Anderson!" Jesse puffed out his chest.

"I'm Jim Cook." Jim pointed at his back and turned around. "And this here's Shirley."

"Adrian Gecko," Adrian said politely.

"Axel Brody," Axel murmured.

"Ah, I see…well, I'll bring you up to date on what you missed, then."

GXGXGX

A few minutes later and the transfer students were just as stunned as the others.

"And finally…" Professor Oak began gravely. "Should you choose to accept my invitation, your very own Pokémon legend will be about to unfold. A world of dreams and adventures with Pokémon awaits!"

"Oak, I think you're forgetting something," Chancellor Sheppard pointed out.

"What?"

"That _threat_ you told me about! Remember?"

"Oh, yes, I almost forgot." Professor Oak's eyes narrowed. "There is an issue going on here. Sheppard said that you kids may be able to help. You see, there is an organization—called Team Rocket—that uses Pokémon for their own selfish needs. They don't treat Pokémon with any kindness whatsoever—it's horrible. Anyway, they used to be led by a man named Giovanni. Keyword: 'used to.' There is a new sheriff in town, and he's even worse than Giovanni. He has taken over the entire organization."

Professor Oak sighed. "The worst part is…he used to be a good guy—Norman, the leader of the Petalburg Gym. We just don't know what happened to him. It's a pretty complicated affair unless you know who I'm talking about. But this is the part you may be familiar with: Norman completely changed Team Rocket's headquarters and their uniforms. They walk around dressed in _white_ now and they keep ranting about how they've 'seen the light' and whatnot. Plus, whenever they battle someone and win, that person also claims to have 'seen the light.'"

The four transfers looked downright confused at this bit of information, but everyone else knew what it meant: _trouble_.

"Well, this is just too plum confusing." Jesse pouted. "How am I supposed to help if I don't have a clue what's goin' on?"

"We'll explain later, guys," Jaden assured them.

"So you said that we can _choose_ to help, right?" Chazz asked Sheppard.

Sheppard nodded. "That's right. We aren't forcing you to do anything except choose. We understand if you don't want to do it, because you'll be missing half of your studies of your final year…"

Everyone glanced at one another. Who would back down?

GXGXGX

**I'll leave that question up to you—that's right—you can VOTE on who gets left behind! And you can vote on multiple people. I'm just gonna lay a few things that I already know for sure down:**

**1. Jesse, Jim, and Adrian are all coming—you get to deicide for Axel.**

**2. Aster and Jaden are coming.**

**3. If Alexis gets scrapped, the gang will pick up a girl or two on their mission (they were gonna do that anyway), so don't think by ditching her, you're ditching the girls altogether.**

**4. Sheppard MAY ask Zane/Bastion (I probably will put Bastion in anyway…) to come—you can vote on that, too.**


	3. Who Will Go? Five Responses

**So here are the people I **_**know**_** who are staying's thoughts, e.g. Aster, Jaden, Jesse, Jim, and Adrian's thoughts about going. And the gang is informed about Pokémon battling.**

GXGXGX

"Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…" Jaden said as Chancellor Sheppard turned off the TV. "That. Was. Cool. It would be so sweet to duel over there!"

"Huh?" Chancellor Sheppard turned around. "Jaden, you won't be _dueling_; you'll be battling with Pokémon! You can bring your decks for good luck, though."

"And how would we 'battle'?" Chazz asked rudely. "Not that I'm considering going—I'm just…curious."

Chancellor Sheppard gasped. "I _knew_ there was something Oak forgot to tell you! Okay, I'll give you the crash course in using Pokémon to battle."

He retreated to his desk. "It's very, very important that you understand this, children. First, there are seventeen Pokémon types: Grass, Fire, Ground, Poison, Electric, Water, Rock, Flying, Ice, Normal, Bug, Ghost, Fighting, Dragon, Psychic, Dark, and Steel. You can think of them like Duel Monster types, except Duel Monsters only have one type, while it is possible for Pokémon to have up to two. These types determine the attacks they can make. Pokémon attack each other when they battle, again similar to Duel Monsters; but don't worry, although Pokémon are animals and not duel holograms, they were built for this sort of stress. As long as you bring them regularly to Pokémon care facilities (or Pokémon Centers), they should be fine. Pokémon can also be male, female, or neither. Some Pokémon have no identifiable gender, while some can only breed one gender. For example, Nidokings are only male, while Nidoqueens are female. I know that you have no idea what kind of Pokémon I'm talking about, but you should meet these specific Pokémon soon if you go."

"Now, I'll give you until this time tomorrow to make your decision," Sheppard continued. "Good luck; I hope you'll help us."

GXGXGX

"This is gonna be sweet! I can't wait to go!" Jaden punched the air as the group left Sheppard's office.

"You're going then, Jay?" Syrus whimpered.

"Totally! You?"

"I dunno…" Syrus glanced at the ground. "It sounds kinda scary…"

"A _real_ best friend wouldn't abandon their commanding officer," Hassleberry muttered.

"WHAT was that?!"

"You heard me, Private!"

Jaden turned away and let them continue to argue. He spotted Aster a few feet in front of him and jogged to catch up. "What about you Aster? You staying behind?"

Aster smirked. "And let you steal all the glory _again_? Not likely. Besides, it'll be a new adventure—a new frontier to explore."

Jaden blinked. What's 'frontier' mean? Aw, never mind. Hey, Jess! Wait up! Are _you_ coming?"

GXGXGX

"_Ruu_…" Ruby Carbuncle appeared near Jesse's shoulder.

"Hey, Ruby." Jesse sighed and sprawled out on his temporary Obelisk Blue bed. "What should I do? Should I stay here with you? Or should I leave with Jay, Aster, and everyone else? It's another dimension—somehow, I doubt I'll still be able to see ya over there…"

"_Ruubyy_."

"Yeah, it _is_ my decision, you're right…but I need your input; you guys are my family."

Suddenly, the rest of the Crystal Beast appeared around them. Amethyst Cat trotted over to Jesse. "Sheppard said you could bring us, didn't he? It's _purr_-fect! We would always be there."

"She's right, Jesse," Sapphire Pegasus added. "We'll always be with you."

Jesse grinned. "Thanks guys—I love ya all."

"And we love you, Jesse…" all the Beasts said simultaneously.

Jesse pulled out his deck and stared at it lovingly. "I guess I know my answer, then. Pokémon Universe, you better look out, cause here comes Jesse Anderson!"

GXGXGX

"This is gonna be awesome!" Jim exclaimed when he got back to his room with Shirley. "Sure, that Prof and I didn't exactly get off on the right foot, but I'm positive that I'll make it up when I help show that 'threat' how we do things in the Outback—in _this_ dimension." Shirley growled. "Aw, don't worry, Shirley!" Jim reached behind himself to pat the crocodile's back. "You can come, too! And if you can't, I can be very persuasive when I want to be…" Jim grinned and sat on his bed. Suddenly, something occurred to him:

"Do you think we need to pack?"

GXGXGX

_Hmm_…Adrian sat down at his computer, ready to contact Ecko about this unexpected change of events. _I didn't expect this, but it's just the opportunity I need_._ I'll head over to the Pokémon world, become the best, and _conquer _it_._ As we left, Sheppard added something about legendary Pokémon_…_maybe he meant legendary as in powerful, like Exodia_. _In that case, maybe I can conquer that world by collecting one or two of those legendaries_…_this opportunity is way too good to pass up_; _that's it, I'm going_. _Now to contact Ecko_…

GXGXGX

**Don't forget to vote! I'm still undecided about Chazz, Syrus, Hassleberry, Alexis, Atticus, and Axel. And I tried to make Syrus, Hassleberry, and Chazz sound indifferent as possible in this chapter, so what they said isn't a hint or a foreshadowing or anything.**

**PLEASE VOTE NOW!! I only got two, and they cancelled each other out!!**


	4. All But One

**And the final standings are…well, I guess you'll have to read to find out.**

**I don't own GX or Pokémon.**

GXGXGX

_Aster was dead right, as much as I hate to admit it_, Chazz thought as he lay on his bed. _Jaden_—_the slacker_—_doesn't deserve to steal all the credit for defeating that 'threat' over there_. _That's why I should go and keep an eye on him_. _But then again, speaking of Aster_…Chazz sat up. _I want to be a Pro. How will that happen if I don't attend_…_half of one of three years, that's_…_a sixth of high school?!_

"UGH!" Chazz moaned. "What do I do?"

"_Hey, Boss_!" Ojama Yellow appeared and floated in circles around Chazz's head. "_You what _I _think you should do? Since you won't be able to see us in that other dimension_…"

Ojamas Black and Green appeared with Yellow and joined in. "_YOU GOTTA STAY HERE!!_"

"THAT'S TEARS IT!" Chazz roared. "There no _way_ I'm passing up an opportunity to be rid of _you _dweebs!"

"_What?!_" Ojama Yellow squeaked.

"_But Boss_—" Black started.

"—_you __can't__!_" Green finished.

"Oh, yeah?" Chazz growled. "Watch me." And with that, Chazz stormed out of his luxury Slifer dorm room, intent on finding Sheppard and accepting his invitation.

GXGXGX

"You haven't been out here in a while," Atticus noted.

Alexis jumped and wheeled around, recognizing her brother's voice. "Atti!"

Atticus smiled sadly and sat beside his sister on the pier by the lighthouse. "You used to come out here all the time…with Zane." Alexis nodded and Atticus paused, gazing at her. "You're staying, aren't you?"

Alexis sighed. "Yes."

"Why?"

"…"

"Come on, Lexi. You can tell me."

"I want…I want to be a teacher. Here." Alexis shook her head. "I won't be able to if a miss a whole half a year of school…But it's not just that!" she added quickly when Atticus opened his mouth to speak. "Crowler recommended me to study overseas…in North America. **(A/N: I know it **_**technically**_** hasn't happened yet, but oh well)** They won't accept me if—"

"You miss half a year of school," Atticus finished. "I see."

"…And you _are_ going," Alexis accused softly after a moment.

Atticus seemed taken aback for a moment, but immediately recovered. "Yeah." He put his arm around his sister. "Yeah, I am."

Silence. Then…

"I'll miss you, Atti."

"I'll miss you too, Lex," Atticus responded, pulling her into a tight hug.

GXGXGX

"Aw, man, what do I do?!" Syrus squeaked as he paced, alone in the woods by the Slifer dorms. "Should I stay? Or…do I go?"

Syrus blinked. "Jaden's going…so is Aster. That probably means Chazz is going—he hates them both, but it's like Aster said, they aren't gonna let Jay steal all the glory again…so I need to decide: do I like Jaden enough to get around my dislike for Chazz?"

"Hmm…" Syrus had to think about that one for a second. "…Yeah, I'd say so. It's settled then. See ya in half a year, Duel Academy."

GXGXGX

"So…are _you_ going, Hassleberry?" Jaden asked hopefully. "Huh, huh?"

"If I've told ya once, soldier, I've told ya a thousand times: _**NO**_!" Hassleberry roared.

"Why _noooooooooot_?" Jaden whined.

"I told ya _that_ a hundred times," Hassleberry murmured. "My folks ain't letting me go."

"Why _no_—?" Jaden started to repeat himself, but Jesse, who was sitting next to Jaden on his bed, clamped a hand over his mouth. Jesse had just come over to alert Jaden that he was coming with him. That's what had started this whole conversation in the first place. When Jesse finally removed his hand, Jaden tried again. "But we _need_ you! Remember, you're the, uh, Mighty, right?"

"_Strength_, Jay," Hassleberry corrected. "Sartorius called _me_ the Strength, Aster the Prince, and you the Fool. Whoa, that tarot deck sure is accurate."

"Right…" Jesse sweatdropped, having no idea what either of his friends was talking about.

"And anyway," Hassleberry continued. "If it's the same exact thing over there, then you'll beat the light and save the day, no problem. Heck, I never even got to duel a Society zombie, except for Sartorius, and _he_ came after _me_."

Jaden blinked. "That's a good point."

"Well, I am beyond confused, so I'll just, uh, leave," Jesse stated, confusedly.

"Oh, no you don't, Jess!" Jaden exclaimed, grabbing Jesse's shirt and yanking him back down on his bed. "We'll tell ya the whole story, start to finish!"

Jesse rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. "Oh, goody. Just let me call the other three—they won't want to miss this." _If I have to be subjected to this, I'm making the rest of them do it, too_.

Fifteen minutes later, Syrus had come back to the dorm with his decision to go, and Jaden was telling the story of the Society of Light Arc to the transfers, just as it happened…sorta:

"And then—BAM!—Sartorius whipped out his laser gun—zzztttt!—and pointed it at Aster! Then, chains appeared outta nowhere and wrapped around me, Sy, and Sarge! Then—zzztttt…BLAM! Sartorius vaporized Aster! Then, Sartorius turned into the Flying Purple People Eater and pointed the laser gun at us! But I held up a mirror—Sartorius took one look at his face and screamed like a little girl! Then he went _crrk_ and he shed his Flying Purple People Eater skin! And they all lived happily ever after, 'cept for Aster, who got vaporized."

"Um…excuse me?" Aster suddenly appeared in the doorway. "Hello, Earth to genius, _I'm right here_!"

"ASTER!" Jaden screamed. "IT'S A GHOST! EVERYBODY, RUN! HE'S BACK FOR UNDEAD REVENGE!"

Everyone in the room sweatdropped.

"Um, Jaden, mate, you know Aster never died, right?" Jim grinned uncertainly. "You're just messing with us, aren't ya?"

"Yeah, course!" Jaden beamed.

"He actually told it pretty accurately," Syrus stated. "Except there weren't laser guns or mirrors; there were duels. And there wasn't a Flying Purple People Eater. Or a mirror. Or chains. Plus, the alien King of the Planet Ojina? Yeah, he was a prince from Earth (Misgarth, to be exact) named Ojin. And Alexis was never Queen of the Ice People and Chazz was never her King, as much as he probably wishes he was. And Bastion didn't join the League of Super-Smart People; he left to work with Dr. Eisenstein."

"Which is pretty much the same thing," Jaden pointed out.

GXGXGX

**That's it for this chapter. I just HAD to write! But this is why Lex and Sarge aren't going:**

**1. I don't like Alexis**

**2. I needed people to not go**

**3. I just had brilliant plans for Chazz and Atti…don't worry, they aren't evil**

**YOU CAN STILL VOTE FOR AXEL!! IM NOT QUITE SURE WHAT TO DO WITH HIM!!!!!!! But if no one votes, I'll just send him with the others.**


	5. The World of Pokemon

**No votes, probably because no one on story alert got that I updated, cause technically I just replaced my A/N with a chapter…but I'm bored. I still don't own either. Now, time for Pokémon to make an entrance! Oh, and the whole trapped-in-the-tree-thing was totally stolen off of Pokémon Advanced, episode 1.**

GXGXGX

After hearing Jaden tell his tale, Axel made his decision. He still wasn't entirely sure what that "Light" was, but from the little information Jaden gave between facts that Axel could only assume he dreamed up one stormy night after having some bad grilled cheese, the Light was _bad_ news. They needed as much help as possible over there.

"Well, that settles it." Axel leaned back against the wall. "I'm going."

"Yippee!!" Jaden cheered. "That means everyone except Hassleberry's coming!"

"Not quite," Aster corrected. He closed his eyes and smirked. "I ran into Atticus on the way over here; he was coming back from the lighthouse. Said Alexis isn't coming, either."

"No!" Jaden gasped. "How can she _not_ come?!"

"Something about her future in teaching, I don't know." Aster shrugged. "And, honestly, I don't really care." Everyone glared at him. "What?"

"It just won't be the same without Private Lexi," Hassleberry sighed.

"Maybe we can convince her to come…" Syrus hoped. "Hey, wait a second! Hassleberry, you aren't going, either!"

"Oh, right!" Hassleberry grinned sheepishly. "I guess I just forgot!"

"Anyway…no, Sy, we can't." Jaden shook his head sadly. "We can't pressure her. It's her decision."

"You tried to convince _me_ to come!" Hassleberry protested.

"That's different!"

"No, it ain't!"

"Uh, mates?" Jim leaned over to Aster, Jesse, Adrian, and Axel. "Are we the only sane ones here?"

"As I've already implied, _you_ are _not_ sane," Aster muttered. "You carry around a 10,000 pound crocodile. I'd say that's pretty solid proof of insanity."

"And strutting around the island going on and on about 'destiny'-this and 'destiny'-that isn't?"

"Hey! I stopped that!"

"Not the strutting."

"Maybe that's just how I walk! Ever think of that, huh?"

"Well, then that's just something else to insult you with!"

"I think that the three of us are the sane ones," Axel murmured to the other two.

"Hey, you're the one who puts himself in dangerous situations to get better," Adrian snorted and jabbed his thumb at Jesse. "And he's the one who talks to his deck, claims it talks back, and calls it his 'family.'"

"Whoa!" Jesse protested. "It _does_ and they _are_!"

"Calm down, Jesse," Topaz Tiger appeared beside Jesse. "They just don't see us like you do."

Jesse sighed. "You're right, Topaz Tiger."

"Case in point," Adrian stated, satisfied.

"Guys!" Suddenly, Atticus burst through the door, Chazz appearing beside him as he starting speaking. "Sheppard wants us! But only the people coming; I think…I think we're leaving now. He said we don't have to pack or anything; just being ourselves, a small pack, and our deck, but that one's optional; the other two aren't. He's giving us ten minutes to get our stuff and get to his office. Starting…NOW!" Atticus turned and raced to grab a pack and say goodbye to his sister again, almost knocking over Chazz.

The arguments were abandoned as Chazz, Aster, Jesse, Jim, Axel, and Adrian followed the Obelisk brunette and Jaden, Syrus, and Hassleberry were left on their own. Quickly finding their packs (Jaden's was a red—surprise, surprise—miniature backpack, while Syrus's was a small, bright yellow backpack with one strap—the kind where the strap goes over one shoulder, goes over his chest, and reattaches to the bottom of the backpack), Jaden and Syrus prepared to bid adieu to their dino-loving friend.

"Jay…Sy…" Hassleberry gasped as the two wrapped their arms around him, cutting him off. "I'll…miss you soldiers, too."

"It'll only be…half a year…won't it?" Syrus whimpered.

Jaden managed a smile. "It'll go like that; you'll see. Besides, you'll have Lex and Blair to keep you company."

"Oh, joy." Hassleberry rolled his eyes. "Do you know what people'll think if a have a platoon fulla…_girls_?"

Jaden and Syrus laughed softly. "We might even be able to call you if we bring our phones in our packs…Professor Oak got connection over there, didn't he?"

"Yeah!" Jaden agreed enthusiastically with Syrus's statement. "Come on, Sy, let's grab our phones. We'll tell the others to grab theirs, too."

GXGXGX

Ten minutes later, everyone (save Alexis and Hassleberry) had assembled in Chancellor Sheppard's office.

"Boys, it's time to go; I trust you have already said your goodbyes?" Everyone nodded and Sheppard continued. "A hole will seemingly appear in midair right about there." Sheppard pointed at the corner. "Don't worry, this journey is not unprecedented; this has been done before; you will not be injured or…worse." A few boys looked around nervously. "You will need to jump through the hole—then you shall introduce yourselves to Professor Oak in person. He will teach you all you need to know. Any questions?" No one moved. "Good. Now…we wait."

"Wait…I have a question." Jaden blinked. "What's 'not unprecedented' mean?"

"It means they've done this before," Jesse explained.

"Crikey, look!" Jim gasped and pointed at the corner, where a large, swirling vortex had appeared.

"There's your ride, boys!" Chancellor Sheppard exclaimed cheerfully. "Just hold your breath as you jump in; you may end up in the pond behind Oak's lab. Go on, jump!"

No one wanted to go first, so Chancellor Sheppard nudged Chazz. This time, he didn't respond. So Sheppard grabbed Chazz's arm, practically dragged him to the vortex, and more or less threw him in, screaming.

"So, who's next?"

GXGXGX

When everyone had finally made it through the vortex, they landed in a grassy field with a windmill in the distance.

"Uh…where is everyone?" Axel asked. "Shouldn't we have some sort of welcome party or something?"

"What I want to know is…" everyone heard Chazz's voice from behind them. "HOW THE BEEP DID I END UP IN THIS BEEPING POND?!" Everybody collapsed in a fit of giggles at the sight of Chazz sitting in the shallow end of a large pond.

"At least you're not all the way out there." Syrus pointed at the center of the pond. "That big head of yours would probably cause you to sink."

"Look, guys!" Atticus pointed in the opposite direction, at a small house on a hill. "It's a house! If that's the pond then…that's the lab! Come on, let's go!"

"HELP!" The boys wheeled around as they heard a scream from the forest to their right.

"Someone's in trouble!" Jaden gasped. Aster ran off into the woods immediately.

"Wait, Aster!" Jim called after him.

"He won't listen," Syrus commented. "He's got some weird hero complex."

"The best we can do is follow him," Jaden added, and took off after Aster. After a few seconds of hesitation, the rest followed the two into the woods.

GXGXGX

Professor Oak gazed nervously down at the Zigzagoons below him. He was just returning the Zigzagoon that he had shown the dueling students from the other dimension when three others—its family, apparently—had appeared from the bushes and chased him up the tree he was currently squatting in. Not only that, but he had dropped the bag with a few of the Pokémon options for the students about twenty feet away from the tree when he was returning the Zigzagoon—he had no way of defense…

"Hello? Anybody here?" A boy with silver hair and bright blue eyes appeared from the trees. He was also dressed in a silver suit. Professor Oak recognized him as one of the duelists.

One thought flashed through his mind: _Uh-oh_.

"Hey…kid!" the Prof yelled, not remembering this particular kid's name. "Get away from here!"

The boy looked up at the man in the tree. "Hey…you're Professor Oak, aren't you?"

"No—I mean, yes! Now get out of here! Can't you see the wild Zigzagoons?!"

The boy glanced at he foot of the tree, his eyes widened, and he grew more pale (if that was even possible). "Th-those…"

"Are _dangerous_! Now get out!"

The kid shook his head fiercely. "No way! You need help, dude!"

Professor Oak sighed. "If you insist on helping, get my bag and grab one of the red and white balls!"

The boy dove for the bag. "Which one?"

"It doesn't matter!" The tree branch creaked under Oak's weight. "Hurry!"

Th boy grabbed a random Pokéball of the five choices Oak knew he had. "Is this one good? Now what?"

"Release the Pokémon! Just shout 'Go!'"

"Go?" the kid asked. He yelped as a flash of red light emerged from the ball and formed a blue bird-like Pokémon with clouds for wings—Swablu. "N-now what?" He was obviously relatively shaken.

"Have it attack!"

"…"

"Tell it to use Peck!"

"Oh, um, okay." The boy turned to the Pokémon. "Use Peck. Hey!" the boy yelped again as the bird Pokémon began pecking his head. He swung his hands wildly at the Pokémon. "Not me!"

Suddenly, the branch Oak was seeking safety on completely snapped off, sending the Professor plummeting to the ground. "Ah! Swablu, use Peck on the Zigzagoon!" Swablu immediately ceased attempting to peck a hole in its silver-covered target and dove for the directed Pokémon, chasing them away. Professor Oak strode over to the teen and plucked the Pokéball from his hand. "Swablu, return."

"Whoa…" the teen marveled, attempting to fix his hair. "How did you do that?"

Oak shrugged. "You get used to it after a while. You'll get it. So…which one were you?"

The boy smirked. "Aster Phoenix."

"Oh…the one with the ego."

Aster frowned. "No. That's Chazz."

"But weren't you the one who called yourself a 'child prodigy' and 'dueling extraordinaire'?" a squeaky voice came from over Aster's shoulder. _Syrus_, Aster matched the voice to the owner mentally.

"Professor Oak…" Aster sighed. "Meet the others." Aster stepped to the side and introduced each boy as he emerged. "Jaden and Syrus—Jay's in the red…and there's Chazz…Jesse…Atticus…Jim…Axel…and Adrian."

"Glad to meet you all!" Oak grinned. "But now's not the time for introductions; now's the time for your first step—your first Pokémon!"

GXGXGX

**And I'll end it there. Any questions about why I did something or something like that, just review…and I know what their first Pokémon will be for all of them, so there's no point in telling me who you think they should get…**

**Oh, and can you guess who gets Swablu? Cause somebody does, and they more I think about it, the more it makes sense…**


	6. First Pokemon

**I gotta get what Pokémon they got down fast, cause I'll forget. So here's where the gang gets their first Pokémon. If you think I'm insane for assigning certain Pokémon to people, just ask me why I it, cause I **_**do**_** have my reasoning, believe it or not. Some of that reasoning is questionable, but there is some reasoning that is totally obvious and genius.**

**I still do not own YGO GX or Pokémon. I don't even live in Japan.**

GXGXGX

"Does anyone else think this is happening a little fast?" Jaden questioned. The group was walking back to the lab, led by Professor Oak, with Jaden and the others in a clump behind him. "I mean, a day ago we didn't even know what Pokémon were, but now, here we are, in a whole other _dimension_. Heck, we're not even allowed to _duel_ anymore!"

"Oh, you're allowed to duel," Professor Oak called back. "You'll just have to sit down and play on those mats, like you did in elementary school. I assume you brought your decks? Plus, you are the only people in this dimension who even know how to duel, so you'd have to do it amongst yourselves."

"Seriously?" Jaden grinned widely. "That's awesome!"

"Now, here we are," Professor Oak stopped in front of the house they had noticed earlier and unlocked the door. "Most of your possible Pokémon are in here. I take you each aside and allow you to pick one. I currently have five with me, one of which—Aster, right?—has already met."

Aster scowled at the memory as the group entered the house.

"Aster, since you have the most, albeit miniscule, experience with Pokémon, you may choose first." Professor Oak moved to an adjoining room. "Follow me. The rest of you, stay here." After Aster was through the door, Oak shut it behind him. "Now, Aster, since there was supposed to be eleven of you, I have prepared eleven Pokémon for you to choose from."

Professor Oak pulled five Pokéballs from his bag. "These are Pokéballs. As you have already learned, they contain your Pokémon."

Professor Oak released five red beams from the balls, forming the Swablu, a brown Pokémon with a skull covering its head (Cubone), a small, blue, penguin-like Pokémon (Piplup), an orange, monkey-like one (Chimchar), and a black Pokémon that looked like a floating sheet with eyes, a red necklace, and black and red hair (Misdreavus).

"See any you like? There's ten more, if you don't," Professor Oak stated.

"Uh…can I see the others?" Aster asked tentatively.

Professor Oak released ten more Pokémon from Pokéballs lying on a desk. **(A/N: I give up describing them—just Google Images for them, cause I spelled them all right)**: Eevee, Cyndaquil, Igglybuff, Totodile, Ralts, and finally, Riolu.

"Some of these were imported from other regions," Oak explained. "The Chimchar, the Piplup, and the Riolu, for example, are from the Sinnoh Region. All of these Pokémon are also _very_ rare."

Aster blinked.

"Oh, oops!" Professor Oak laughed. "I forgot to tell you! Certain types of Pokémon found in the wild are 'rare.' That means they are very hard to find. There are also common Pokémon and legendary. There is only one of each type of legendary; odds are you will never meet one. Common Pokémon are all over the place; the Zigzagoons you saw earlier were common. Also, this world is separated into four major regions: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. There are other, smaller, regions but those are the important ones. We are currently in Kanto."

"Uh…okay. So they're like continents."

Professor Oak laughed. "Something like that. So, go on, choose. But chose wisely—this will be your traveling companion, and the one that will most likely help you defeat Team Rock—er, Light. Team Light."

Aster nodded. "Right. Can I have…that one?" He pointed to a small, black and blue Pokémon that slightly resembled a dog on its hind legs.

"_Riolu?_" The Pokémon tilted its head and smiled. At least, Aster _thought_ it smiled. "_Rioluuu!_" The Pokémon ran at Aster and latched onto his leg, like a toddler. A deformed, blue toddler who could only say "Riolu."

"Uh…" Aster stared helplessly down at it.

"Riolu? Excellent choice!" Professor Oak handed Riolu's ball to Aster. "You can nickname it, if you want. You don't have to right now, but if you want to later, you need to go to the Name Rater in Slateport City."

"Um…I'll keep it at 'Riolu.'"

"Very good. Now, be sure to pass on to information I told you about the regions and the nicknames to the others. And pick one of your friends to send in."

"Alright…um…" Aster glanced down at his leg and the Pokémon attached. "What should I…?"

"Tell it to return to the Pokéball. Say, 'Riolu, return.'"

"Riolu, return." The Pokémon dissolved in red light and was sucked into the ball. "Cool. I guess I'll send in…Jaden." Aster walked outside, while calling: "Jaden, it's your turn!"

"ALRIGHT!" Professor Oak heard the enthusiastic Slifer yell. "MY TURN!" Jaden ran in before the door even swung shut behind Aster.

"WhodoigetwhodoigetwhodoiGET?!" Jaden asked, so fast Oak could barely tell what he was saying.

"Well, you, uh, get to choose from these ten…" Professor Oak began. He then told Jaden what he had told Aster—the rarities, the regions, and recalling and nicknaming the Pokémon. "So…who would you like?"

"Hmm…I really like monkeys so…that cute little guy, right there!" Jaden pointed to an orange monkey with a flame for a tail—Chimchar.

"Chimchar? Good choice. Nickname?"

"Hmm…Sushi Lollypop the Fifth! I'll call him Sushi!"

"Um…o…kay…" Professor Oak sweatdropped, recalled Sushi Lollypop the Fifth into its Pokéball, and handed the ball to Jaden. _What's with this kid?_ "You can pick someone else to come in, now."

"Alright!" Jaden skipped out of the room, shouting: "Syrus! Your turn!"

The aforementioned bluenette strode in nervously. Professor Oak gave him the information needed as well. "So, choose your Pokémon."

"Um…I guess…I'll take…that one?" It was more of a question than a decision. "The, uh, penguin-thing."

"Piplup? You want to nickname it?"

Syrus shook his head. "Nah. I'll keep it at…uh…what—?"

"Piplup."

"Right. Piplup."

"_Piplup!_" The penguin Pokémon cheered.

"Piplup, return!" the Piplup retreated back into its Pokéball and Professor Oak handed it to Syrus. "There you are. Now, you can choose someone else to come in."

"Uh…okay. Atticus?" Professor Oak heard Syrus say as he left.

He was soon replaced by a brunette in an Obelisk blue uniform. "What's up, dude?" That was when he spotted Igglybuff. "Oh, my God! That's the cutest thing ever!" Atticus ran up to the pink ball-shaped Pokémon and wrapped it into a vice-like hug. "Yes, you are the cutest, yes, you are!"

Professor Oak laughed. "Looks like you've already chosen your Pokémon. There's a few things I need to tell you before you leave, though." Professor Oak gave him the spiel. "Would you like to nickname it?"

Atticus glanced at the Pokémon, which he was still squeezing. "Yeah! How about…Cuddles!"

Professor Oak nodded. "Now, would you returning Igg—_Cuddles_ to its Pokéball?"

"Sure! Cuddles, return!"

"Now, pick someone else to get their Pokémon."

"Alright! Uh…Jesse! Your turn!" **(A/N: I'm too lazy to go through everyone else, so I'll just skip through their dialogue…)**

After Jesse chose his Eevee, he sent in Jim, who chose Cubone, which he named Skull Knight (Professor Oak decided that Jim was the strangest of the bunch, _including_ Jaden—and that's saying something). Jim, in turn, sent in Axel, who chose Cyndaquil, named it Cinder, and sent in Adrian, who chose Swablu. Since no one else was left, Adrian had no choice but to pick Chazz.

"Here you are…Chazz, right?"

Chazz nodded at Professor Oak's statement and surveyed his options—Misdreavus, Totodile, and Ralts. "Don't bother telling me about regions, returning to the balls, et cetera; everyone else already told me."

Chazz's eyes lingered on Misdreavus for a moment, but he quickly looked away. The ghost Pokémon floated over to him and cooed. "_Misdreavus_."

"I guess I'll take that blue crocodile-thing." The Misdreavus sagged when it heard Chazz, who went over to pet Totodile. "ACK!" Totodile had decided that it wasn't too fond of Chazz; it had latched its mouth onto Chazz's hand. "GET IT OFF!"

"Totodile!" Professor Oak scolded. The Totodile immediately let go, leaving Chazz's hand throbbing.

"S-scratch that…" Chazz murmured. "I guess I'll take the floaty one. ("_Misdreavus!_" Misdreavus exclaimed happily.) And I'll nickname it Myst. With a 'y'."

"Very good then. Now join your friends, show off your Pokémon, do whatever you nine are doing out there. Then, I'll give your more information about your journey and the threat you'll be fighting."

As Chazz walked out the door, Professor Oak snickered. _This is an awfully strange bunch_. _I'm glad I'm not that odd_…_I'm also glad I don't walk around with a crocodile all the time_—_I wonder if that thing ever gets heavy_…

GXGXGX

**That's all, folks! PLEASE review. Please? I LOVE reviews.**


	7. First Pokemon Caught

**I'm back…and still haven't inherited Konami—ergo, I don't own GX or Pokémon.**

**And this chapter's gonna be following Jim.**

GXGXGX

Professor Oak exited his lab to find the group of duelists chatting and attempting to practice releasing and recalling their Pokémon. "Now that you have your Pokémon," Professor Oak started, "I'm going to show you how to battle and control your Pokémon, as you will need to be able to battle to help us defeat this threat."

GXGXGX

"She won't pick up," Ash sighed into his phone. "I'm really worried, Brock. _Neither_ of them has responded to any of my phone calls since…you know…"

"Yeah," Brock agreed on the other end. "I know."

"I even took a boat to Hoenn and had Charizard fly me to Petalburg; no one home."

"Seriously?!" Brock sounded surprised. "So _that's_ where you were yesterday."

"Why? Did you come over to my place?"

"No; Gary did."

Ash scowled. When he didn't answer, Brock continued: "Misty was with him."

"…"

"They said Norman sent Gary to battle."

"…What did you tell them?"

"That you weren't home."

"…And?"

"I told them that you weren't home, haven't been since you…you know…battled May, and to 'get their white-clad asses the hell out of here before I call Officer Jenny.'"

"You didn't." There was a hint of amusement in Ash's voice; Brock could tell he was grinning.

"Sure did. Hey, have you been in contact with Professor Oak in the past week or so?"

"Um…no, not really. Why?"

"Well, he told me that he brought over some kids from a whole other _world_ to help fight Team Roc—_Light_. He said they were showing up at his lab today and that, though they've never even _heard_ of Pokémon before about yesterday, they will be invaluable in fighting back…and saving our friends."

"Really?" Ash's curiosity was peaked. _A whole other world? And they're going to help us_—_with minimal Pokémon experience?_

"Yeah. Oh, and by the way, he wants you to come meet them tomorrow; help them out, give them pointers—stuff like that."

"Great," Ash moaned. "So now, on top of Misty, May, and Gary problems, I have to babysit a bunch of kids who probably don't even know how to throw a Pokéball?"

"Kids?" Brock laughed. "They're about two or three years older than you!"

"You're right—they aren't kids. I bet when it comes to how much they know about Pokémon, they're just _toddler_-level."

"Doesn't matter. Professor Oak wants you over there by tomorrow." Brock hung up.

Ash sighed. "Great. Just great."

GXGXGX

Before nightfall, Professor Oak had gone over releasing, returning, catching, and battling Pokémon to perfection. He also had the duelists memorize their Pokémon's moves. He even had Jaden and Syrus battle each other using only Piplup's Bubblebeam and Sushi's Ember to demonstrate the importance of type differences.

Then, he told them about battling trainers, Gym battles, coordinators, and Contests. He said that, along the way to defeat Team Light, they could participate in Gym battles or Contests. Upon hearing the definition of each, Atticus (predictably) chose to be a coordinator. After a little hesitation, Syrus did, too. However, everyone else decided to try their luck with Gym battles.

"Now, I shall test your skill," Professor Oak started. He gave them all two Pokéballs each. "I want you to go out into those woods there and catch one wild Pokémon each. The second ball's for if you miss."

The group of duelists took the Pokéballs and nervously ventured into the forest.

"Maybe we should split up, mates," Jim suggested. "Then when we see a Pokémon, there won't be a mad scramble to catch it."

"Jim's right," Axel agreed. "Let's meet back here when we're done, so we can all finish together."

Everyone agreed and they went off on their separate ways. Jim went with a path that was covered with dense underbrush. _This should be a snap_. Jim smirked as he inspected the ground for tracks. _If I can track animals at home, I can surely do it just as well _here.

Immediately, Jim found some tracks to follow. _Um_…_okay, maybe not _just_ as well_. He had never seen tracks like those before. Jim shrugged and began to follow the tracks. _I may not know any of these creatures, but I have to catch one either way_.

Following the tracks, he came to a small cave, where the tracks ended. "Should I go in?" Jim wondered aloud. "Aw, heck. I little adventure never hurt anyone. Might want to add some protection, though. Rise, Skull Knight." Jim released his Cubone, which promptly zoomed into the cave. "Crikey! You're fast for a little guy." Jim sprinted his Pokémon—at least, until he slammed into a rock suspended in midair. "What the—?"

"_Cubone!_" Skull Knight cried excitedly from under the floating rock.

"_Geodude!_" The floating rock cried back.

"Oh…so that must be a Pokémon…" Jim mused. "And it must be…a Geodude!" he exclaimed, recalling that Professor Oak had mentioned that the only thing Pokémon could say is all or part of its name. "Come on, Skull Knight! Let's try to catch it!"

Jim backed up slightly as Skull Knight raced over to him. "Use Bone Club!" Skull Knight, clutching the bone it always carried around with it, raised the bone, leapt into the air, and slammed into the Geodude, which caused it to fall to the ground. "Follow with a Tail Whip!" SK turned and lashed at Geodude with its tail. The Geodude wasn't down yet, however, as it tackled SK as soon as it had recovered. The impact sent SK into the cave wall.

Jim saw Geodude readying another attack and thought fast. "Wait!" he called as SK stood up next to the wall it had just smashed into. The Geodude pulled back. "Wait for it…" The Geodude tore through the air, aiming right at SK. "There! DODGE!" SK narrowly leapt out of the way as Geodude smashed into the wall. It didn't get up."

"That should do it." Jim grinned as he took out a Pokéball. "Go, Pokéball!" The ball hit Geodude on the head and bounced off, emitting a red light along the way. The light engulfed Geodude and pulled it into the ball. The Pokéball shook once…twice…three times…then it beeped triumphantly.

"Alright!" Jim cheered. "I caught my first Pokémon! Didja see that, Shirley?! And it's all thanks to Skull Knight over here." Jim smiled lovingly at the proud Pokémon beside him. "Come on. I doubt the others had as much luck as I did, but we should go wait for them, anyway."

GXGXGX

When Jim reached their meeting place, he received a shock when he saw that Aster was back already.

"You're back? _Already?_"

"Is that such a surprise?" Aster retaliated icily. His expression softened so much that he actually _smiled_. "Me and Riolu make a good team." The smile quickly disappeared and the teen looked away.

After a few moments of silence, the others weren't back yet and Jim had something bothering him. "Um…Aster? If you don't mind me asking, what's your problem?"

Aster looked at Jim, slightly startled at his abruptness—he had one eyebrow raised. "My…problem?"

"Yeah, your problem." Jim scowled. "Every opportunity ya get, ya make fun of me or Shirley—" Shirley growled in agreement "—and I want to know why."

Aster blinked. "I dunno. I guess…cause you're so easy to make fun of. Seriously, you carry a crocodile around on your back. It's like a giant, green, scaly, 'Kick Me' sign with teeth."

Jim turned to Shirley. "No offense, Shirley, but he's got a point. Don't worry though, sheila; I ain't getting rid of ya."

Aster snorted. "You're talking to it. That's like Jaden, Chazz, and Jesse and their decks."

"Hey, at least Shirley's a living being, and at least Jaden and Chazz just talk to the air. Jesse says forty-some pieces of paper are his 'family.'" Jim chuckled. "I think that kid might just be insane."

Aster laughed with him—at that completely mutual moment, Aster and Jim would end their equally mutual "argue" relationship. Sure, they wouldn't be best friends, but at least Aster wouldn't making fun of Shirley anymore. And to think, it was all because of Jesse and his supposed insanity.

GXGXGX

Finally, about an hour later, everyone made it back.

Jim had found out that Aster caught a Poochyena, Jaden a Munchlax, Syrus a Togepi, Chazz a Ghastly, Atticus a Skitty, Jesse a Meowth, Axel a Magby, and Adrian a Nincada.

The group exited the forest together, holding their two Pokémon-holding Pokéballs in front of them proudly.

GXGXGX

**Well, they all have their first Pokémon that they actually caught themselves.**

**Oh, and Jesse's Pokémon are going to be loosely based off his Crystal Beasts: Eevee=Ruby Carbuncle (well, when it evolves) and Meowth=Amethyst Cat (also when it evolves).**

_**IMPORTANT**_**:**

**OMG! Misty and Gary joined the Society of Light?! They sorta represent Alexis and Chazz in that way…I **_**did**_** mean to do that. But anyway, time for the important stuff: in case it wasn't clear (which I know it wasn't), since Norman took over the SoL, May and Max kinda represent Aster, since Norman's their father and all. Norman had May battle Ash…who WON (I know it didn't mention that)!**

**BTW, don't worry, this won't be Yu-Gi-Oh GX rewritten with Pokémon characters (that's kinda stupid—everyone reading this already knows what happened)—IT WILL BE DIFFERENT!**

**Peace.**


	8. Ash Ketchum: Pokemon Master

**Please, people, use your common sense! If I owned either of them, would I be on here?!**

**Plus, I know people normally don't get this many Key Items in the beginning, but there can't be like 20 chapters revolving around "No way! Syrus got an Old Rod! Now they have to travel halfway across Kanto to get Old Rods for the rest of them! And don't forget; they all need Good and Super Rods, too!" I mean, that's just ridiculous**—**hello, they have a bad guy to stop!**

GXGXGX

"Congrats!" Professor Oak cheered. "You've all caught your first Pokémon! Now, time to get down to business." He reached into his bag and pulled out a variety of items. "First, you've got your Pokédex. Then your Kanto map. And your VS Seekers and Fame Checkers. Plus Bike Vouchers for all of you. Oh, don't forget this TM Case. And then we've got Berry Bags, Coin Cases, Old Rods, and, finally, Itemfinders. This would be why you needed those packs I had you bring. Everything I just mentioned is going to be your most important items."

While the duelists were staring at the gigantic pile of crap (well, it wasn't crap, but _they_ thought it was), Professor Oak separated it into smaller piles of individual items. He picked up the Pokédex pile first. "These are Pokédexes. They will be your most important tool. Hold it up to an unknown Pokémon, and this will tell you what it is. You can check basic stats and information with this, my own invention. Every time you catch a Pokémon, it adds more information to the Pokédex. Normally, I'd ask you to _please_ try to complete it, but you've already got enough on your plate." Professor Oak passed the small red rectangles out to each boy.

"Next, we have your Kanto maps. It will help you move around the region easier, as you will know where you are going. Then, we have your VS Seekers. They allow you to find trainers who wish to battle you—this will assist in making you stronger. Then we have the Fame Checker. Not really essential, but you should still have it. It stores information on famous people from around the world." Professor Oak passed out said items.

"Now, the Bike Vouchers are _very_ important. You can trade them in for bikes in Cerulean City—these bikes help you travel around faster. The TM Case holds TMs and HMs. TMs and HMs are moves that you can teach your Pokémon. While HMs are for practical uses outside of battle, TMs are strictly for battle only, just like normal moves." Professor Oak continued to pass out the items.

"The Berry Bags are for carrying berries. This berries can do many different things, including curing your Pokémon from burns, paralysis, et cetera. The Coin Cases are for holding coins you win from the casino in Cerulean City. If you have enough coins, you can trade them for TMs, Pokémon dolls, and even actual Pokémon. These Old Rods are the lowest-quality fishing gear for catching water Pokémon. Then there's Good Rods at the middle-level-quality, and the Super Rods at the best quality. However, I could only afford nine Old Rods with my budget; sorry. Finally, you have these Itemfinders. They detect items that are sometimes buried in the ground or are otherwise invisible for some reason." Professor Oak finished passing out the items. "You can put them in your bags until you need them. But for now, it's been a long day; you need rest. There's a guest room with a few bunk beds inside. So, go on, get some sleep—you'll have a special visitor tomorrow."

GXGXGX

"Boys!" Professor Oak slammed open the door to the guest room. "Wake up!"

The occupants inside groaned—well, the ones who had woken up. "Where's the fire?" Adrian groaned.

"Your visitor should be here any minute! Plus, it's time for breakfast."

"BREAKFAST!" You can probably guess who just woke up. Jaden leapt out of the bottom bunk of one of the beds. "WOO-HOO!"

"Jaden…" Syrus groaned. "Hold on, you need to help us get up Jesse, Jim, and Aster."

"I got Jesse." Adrian hopped down from the top bunk and kicked Jesse, who was sleeping in the bottom bunk:

"YOW! What in tarnation was _that_ for?!"

"Hey, Jesse, how do we wake up Fossil Boy?" Chazz asked from his bed.

Jesse rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and cleared his throat. "HEY! IS THAT A RARE FOSSIL OVER THERE?!"

"WHAT?!" Jim bolted upright. "Where?!"

Jesse turned to Chazz. "There. He's up."

Everyone else got down from their beds (even Chazz) and gathered around Aster's.

"Um…who wants to wake him?" Syrus asked nervously.

"You kiddin'?" Jesse laughed. "Come on, it can't be that bad. It's not like he'll kill you."

"Then why don't _you_ wake him up?" Chazz glared and "hmph"-ed at Jesse, crossing his arms.

"Alright, I will."

"Um, Jess?" Jaden asked nervously. "Who's your next-of-kin?"

"Uh, my folks, I guess. Why?"

"So we notify them if you…you know…"

"Jay…" Jesse laughed. "I'm not gonna die."

Jaden shrugged. "Your funeral."

"Aster…?" Jesse shook Aster's shoulder. "Aster, time for breakfast…"

Next thing Jesse knew, there was a pain in his jaw and everything went black.

Aster blinked himself awake. "Hey, what happened?"

Jim glanced at Jesse, who seemed to be asleep on the floor. "You just knocked out Jesse here when he tried to wake ya, mate."

Aster looked over the bed and, sure enough, there was Jesse, out cold. "Really?"

"Yup. Socked him in jaw. Made a big 'crack' sound." Jim blinked. "Hope you didn't break his jaw or anything."

Jaden's eyes widened. "Jesse! Wake up, Jesse!" He knelt down next to the unconscious boy and shook him vigorously. "WAKE UP!"

Jesse groaned. "What happened? And…why's my jaw hurt?"

"Well, he's talking—unfortunately. That's means it's not broken right?" Chazz asked indifferently.

"That's right." Axel nodded. "Congratulations, Jesse; Aster didn't break your jaw."

"Boys!" everyone heard Professor Oak call. "That visitor, the one I told you about? He's here!"

GXGXGX

"So they've dealt with Team Light before?" Ash questioned. He was currently sitting in Professor Oak's kitchen, eating some bacon and eggs.

"Not exactly…" Professor Oak admitted. "Not with Pokémon, and they don't know anyone here. But they _do_ know how to deal with them—they even know how to get Misty, Gary, and probably Norman back."

"Norman _back_?" Ash choked on his bacon. "He's what started this whole mess in the first place!"

"Not quite," Professor Oak corrected. "He's being possessed…by an evil alien from outer space."

Ash burst out laughing. "That was pretty funny, but we really shouldn't joke about them like that…it's not exactly a laughing matter…"

"I wasn't joking." Professor Oak looked grim.

"You're serious…" Ash gasped, as if it were a great revelation.

"We're here, Professor Oak!" Jaden called as he ran into the room, the others trailing sleepily behind him. "Where's breakfa—EGGS! AND BACON!"

Professor Oak, much to Jaden's chagrin, had other ideas; he scooped the platters of bacon and eggs from the table. "_After_ you meet Ash."

"Who?"

Jim grinned. "Ash, huh? That's a pretty cool nickname. So what's your _real_ name?"

Ash scowled. "That _is_ my real name."

Jim sweatdropped. "Oh. Heh, heh. Sorry."

"And what's _your_ name?" Ash hoped that it was something even more ridiculous—too bad for Ash that it wasn't Aster who had asked that.

"Jim Cook."

"…" _That's almost as common as John Smith_…

"Anyway!" Professor Oak interrupted pointedly. "Ash, I told them all the basics about Pokémon, and I was hoping you could use their help defeating Team Light."

Ash snorted. "_Their_ help? Do they even have any Pokémon yet?"

Professor Oak glared. "Ash. I'm just as much involved as you are in this, probably even more so, so everything I try, I am very serious about."

Ash gazed out the window, his eyes narrowed. Aster scowled at him and his hands balled into fists. _Why is he acting like he's so much better than us?_

Professor Oak sighed. "Ash…they know how to save them…they know how to save Misty."

Ash's expression softened and he looked at his lap.

"Teach them everything you know and help them as much as you can. Please." Professor Oak was almost begging. Almost.

Ash sighed. "Alright, alright." He smiled, albeit somewhat forced, and stood up.

"I'll just leave you kids alone now," Professor Oak stated as he left the kitchen.

"Well…I'm Ash Ketchum. I'm fourteen, grew up here in Pallet Town, and am a Pokémon master." Ash smirked. "Any questions?"

"What's a Pokémon master?" Jaden asked. "Is it like a King of Games?"

"Uh…not really." _Not that I have any idea what that is_, Ash thought. Nevertheless, he continued smugly: "That means I totally completed my Pokédex and have defeated every one of the Gym Leaders, Frontier Brains, Elite Four, et cetera, in every region."

"Is that mastery recent, or did you achieve it years ago?" Aster asked thoughtfully. _Maybe I can cut this kid's ego down a few notches_.

"If you count 'in the past year' as recent, than yeah, it's pretty recent."

"I thought the Prof said that you began your Pokémon journey when you were ten."

"Yes…" Ash replied warily.

"So…it took you _four_ years to master Pokémon?" Aster smirked. "That seems pretty unrealistic."

"_Aster_," Atticus, who just happened to be standing next to him, hissed warningly.

"That I did it in that little time?" Ash blinked. "Well, I _am_—"

Aster snorted. "I didn't say it was impressive. Four years is an awfully long time, dude."

Ash scowled deeply. "I'd like to see you try."

"Maybe I will."

Jaden could practically see the lightning bolts shooting out from both Aster _and_ Ash's eyes. "Um…so, Ash, do you have any advice for us beginners? I mean, we could really use your help and all…"

Ash just ignored Jaden. "Haven't your parents ever taught you respect?"

Aster's eyes widened and Jaden, Syrus, Chazz, and Atticus gasped. Aster emitted a low, angry growl.

"Oh, did I hit a nerve?!" Ash exclaimed, feigning surprise. "Was it the 'parents' or the 'respect'? I think the first one's more likely." Ash smirked as Aster visibly tensed up.

"Sh-Shut up…" There was a dangerous look in Aster's blue eyes. Ash merely smirked in response, knowing he had the upper hand in _this_ battle.

"Y-you think you're just _so_ great, don't you? That no one will _ever_ beat you." Aster lowered his head so that his bangs covered his eyes. "Well, let this serve as a lesson to you." Aster's head shot up and he smiled in a sinister way. Before anyone could stop him, he leapt at Ash, punching him in the face.

What he didn't notice was the small yellow mouse-Pokémon on the table beside them: "_Pika_…_CHU!_" Apparently, it was an electric type, too, and very protective of Ash.

Aster, his left hand still in the aftermath position from a punch, froze, having had a taste of Pikachu's Thunderbolt attack. He was completely covered in brown and gray, having just been totally fried. "Ow." Then he collapsed.

"ASTER!" The entire group yelled, rushing to his side.

Aster coughed. "I'm fine…surprisingly." He shook his head and glared up at Ash. "What the hell was that for?!"

Ash shrugged. "I didn't do it."

"It's _your_ Pokémon!"

"They have brains of their own, you know! Let _that_ serve as a lesson to you."

At that moment, Professor Oak chose to stride back into the room. "So, how's everything go—_what happened here_?!"

Ash and Aster both pointed at one another. "It was his fault!"

GXGXGX

"Ash, I'm rather disappointed in you."

Ash hung his head as Professor Oak reprimanded him in a room separate from the duelists. "I know; I'm sorry."

"Ash, this is tough on me, too," Professor Oak stated sadly. "I know you aren't normally this…this…"

"Arrogant?" Ash guessed.

"No, you normally _are_ this arrogant…" Ash scowled "…but you _aren't_ normally so…rude, unkind, and callous about it."

Ash sighed. "I know. It's just…I'm upset about Misty and May. And Gary, too."

"Ash, Gary's my grandson, I know what you're feeling. But you can't go around insulting other people."

"Hey, _he_ started it—" Ash protested.

"And _you_ ended it. Two wrongs don't make a right, Ash."

Ash frowned; Oak was right and he knew it. "Yeah, I know. Sorry."

Professor Oak, surprisingly, laughed. "Don't apologize to _me_. Apologize to the boy Pikachu electrocuted."

Ash pouted. "Do I _have_ to?"

"Yes, you have to."

"Fine. Come on, Pikachu."

"_Pikachu!_"

GXGXGX

"Hey, everyone." Chazz smirked. "You might wanna stay away from Aster. That's the second time in ten minutes that he's punched someone in the face."

"Be careful, Chazz." Aster frowned. "If I'm as dangerous as you say, you can consider yourself my next victim."

"Hey." The group gathered around Aster, whom they had placed back in his bed (with some difficulty: "OW! Don't touch me; that _hurts_!"), turned to see Ash standing in the doorway. "How is he?"

"Just fine, no thanks to you," Aster spit (yes, just like Team Rocket in the anime, Aster had miraculously recovered within a few minutes).

"Heh, heh," Ash laughed nervously, putting his hand behind his head. "Um, sorry about that. It's just…I'm really upset right now and…I can't really control my temper very well at the moment. As for Pikachu…" Ash glanced at his Pokémon, which was perched on his shoulder "…he's really protective of me. Don't tell me that if someone punched you in the face, one of these guys wouldn't make him pay."

"Actually, making people pay is kinda Aster's _thing_," Jaden pointed out. Aster glared at him. "What? It is."

"Besides…" Aster turned back to Ash. "_My_ friends don't shoot electricity."

Ash grinned. "Touché. You know, I think I might like you. You kinda remind me of…well, _me_."

Aster rolled his eyes. "Yeah, thanks."

"No, I'm serious. Maybe…" Ash glanced at his feet. "…maybe, if we hadn't gotten off on the wrong foot, we could have been, you know…friends."

"You know…" Jim gazed at Ash thoughtfully. "You are sorta alike…not as alike as Jay and Jess, granted, but still…"

"Alright, fine!" Aster sighed and looked Ash straight in the eyes. "Truce?"

"Truce." Ash strode over to the bed to shake Aster's hand.

"Ouch!"

"Uh, sorry."

GXGXGX

**Alright, chapter eight DONE! Now, credit goes completely to ****Serpent's Ballet**** for the whole Aster-punching-Ash-therefore-Pikachu-shocked-him scene. Next chapter, they finally face some Team Light guys when Ash helps them practice in a field full of wild Pokémon.**


	9. New Allies: Dawn and Drew

**Do I seriously have to go over this **_**every chapter**_**? I don't own them, damnit! Uh, anyway…**

**In case you were wondering why the rating went up (if you even noticed), I became aware that I cursed three times. So, yeah; that's pretty much it.**

**Oh, and also, I know that in the anime, Brock's parents sorta took over the Gym, but let's just pretend Brock decided to come back after Ash became a Pokémon Master, shall we?**

GXGXGX

"I'll see you soon! Remember, you can always contact me from any Pokémon Center!" Professor Oak called as he waved goodbye to Ash and the new Pokémon trainers. "Good luck!"

"Thanks, Professor!" Jaden replied.

They walked a little ways in silence, until Adrian broke it. "So, Ash, where's the first Pokémon Gym?"

"Well, there's eight Gyms," Ash started. "The first is the Pewter Gym, led by my friend, Brock. We might meet up with him before we get to Pewter City, but it only counts as an official Gym battle if you actually battle at the Gym."

"What's after that one?"

"…Cerulean City. You'd normally have to battle my other friend, Misty, but…" Ash looked at the ground. "…that's too dangerous. You'll have battle one of her older sisters, Daisy, Lilly, or Violet." Ash bit lip.

Everyone understood this sign: Misty got roped into Team Light. Well, almost everyone: "Wait, why—"

Aster elbowed Jaden in the ribs. "_Why do you think?_" he hissed.

Ash attempted to ignore them. "Um, now, we need to prepare you for your battle with Brock. He uses Rock/Ground-type Pokémon and only uses two Pokémon when he battles in a Gym: Geodude and Onix. Tell me what your Pokémon are, and I'll tell you how strong you need to make them or if you need to catch any more. Syrus, you first."

"Piplup and Togepi," Syrus answered.

Ash winced slightly at the familiar Pokémon, but no one noticed. "Piplup will give you a major boost when you battle Brock, but Togepi isn't the _best_ Pokémon to use against him. You'll need to make your Togepi a bit stronger than your Piplup. If you don't do anything, you _might_ make it past Brock, if you make Togepi a lot stronger and your Piplup only a little stronger, you will beat him, but may crash and burn later on. Your best bet is to make them both stronger and catch another Pokémon—"

"Wait! Ash!" Syrus protested. "I'm not gonna battle Gym Leaders, I'm gonna be a coordinator!"

"Oh." Ash blinked. "Who else is gonna be a coordinator?"

"I am," Atticus replied. "But that's it."

"I see." Ash laughed. "I'm not the best person to help you with that, but my friend Dawn will be here soon; she'll help you out. So you can just disregard the information I gave you, Syrus. Or you can listen; it might make you a better coordinator, who knows? So…how about…Chazz? What Pokémon do you have?"

"Misdreavus and Ghastly," Chazz answered callously and crossed his arms.

"Great! Those are completely immune to his Ground attacks because of their special ability! If it weren't for his Rock moves, he wouldn't be able to touch you! As it is, however, if he uses a Rock move and you don't prepare, you're dead. Other than that, you can't do major battle damage, but you don't suck against him. You're sorta…neutral. I'd suggest training both your Pokémon a lot more, but catching a Fighting, Grass, Ground, Ice, Steel, or Water Pokémon will increase your chances by a lot. Jaden? What about you?"

"Chimchar and Munchlax!" Jaden cheered.

"Hmm…Fire type? Not your best bet. Normal type? Even worse. Train them a_ lot_ and catch one of those Pokémon I told Chazz; maybe catch two. Focus on Grass and Water. Now let's hear…Jesse's."

"Eevee and Meowth," Jesse answered.

"Same advice as Jaden. Those are both Normal, and don't do too well against Rock or Ground. Jim?"

"Cubone and Geodude," Jim responded.

"Good, good. Cubone will do well, but Geodude will only do well with Ground attacks, but it's also susceptible to Ground attacks. I recommend—"

"Training some more and catching a Pokémon fitting the same requirements you told Chazz?" Jim guessed.

"Uh, right." Ash seemed taken aback. "Adrian?"

"Swablu and Nincada," Adrian answered while laughing slightly at Jim.

"Same advice as Jaden and Jesse. Aster?"

"Riolu and Poochyena," Aster replied.

"Riolu, huh? That's a pretty rare Pokémon, even in the region it came from. But it'll do real well against Brock. As for Poochyena…it'll come in handy later on, but for now, it won't cause a lot of damage. If you make them both stronger, you shouldn't _have_ to catch another Pokémon, but you can. And, finally, Axel. How about you?"

"Cyndaquil and Magby," Axel said.

"Same advice as Jaden, Jesse, and Adrian. Now that everyone has their advice, let's get to training. You make Pokémon stronger by battling other trainers, but only if you win. So, why don't you just battle amongst yourselves? If you can't seem to win, look for wild Pokémon. Use your Pokédex to see what type they are, and if you don't need them, just battle them for practice. Alright? Go!"

GXGXGX

About three hours later, everyone had made their Pokémon considerably stronger and had beaten at least one of their friends. Then they had separated to find wild Pokémon.

After a few moments of searching, Aster came upon a small Pokémon that looked like an acorn with eyes. He quickly reached for his Pokédex, opened it, and scanned the strange Pokémon:

"Seedot: the Acorn Pokémon. It evolves into Nuzleaf, then Shiftry. If it remains still, it becomes impossible to distinguish from real nuts. It delights in surprising foraging Pidgey."

"Let's see…" Aster murmured. "Yes! A Grass Pokémon! And it says that _this_ one happens to be close to evolution! Even better!" Aster pulled put a Pokéball. "Go, Poochyena! You haven't had a chance to help me catch a new Pokémon, have you? Let's fix that."

GXGXGX

Another five minutes later, Aster had come back with his Seedot and challenged Jaden to a battle. Halfway through, everyone became shocked when Seedot began glowing white. However, Ash explained to them that it was merely evolving into a Nuzleaf. They continued the battle and Aster, having the advantage of an extra Pokémon, won. Feeling that his Pokémon still weren't strong enough (he had just _barely_ beaten Jaden), Aster ventured out into the woods to train some more.

"Nuzleaf, attack!" Aster cried as his Nuzleaf finished off an orange worm-like Pokémon (the Pokédex called it a "Wurmple").

"Hello, there." Aster wheeled around to see a girl behind him. She had orange hair, which was pulled in a ponytail on the side of her head. She was also wearing a light blue cloak, which covered the rest of her clothing.

"Um…can I help you?" Aster asked awkwardly.

"Yes, actually." The girl smiled sweetly. "I'm looking for someone to battle. I'm trying to make my Pokémon stronger and, while battling wild Pokémon helps, battling with a fellow trainer's Pokémon helps even more."

"Well, uh, I may not be the best person if you're looking for a challenge…I just started out this morning…" Aster backed away a little; this girl kind of creeped him out. It was something about her eyes…

"Oh, that's okay," the girl chirped happily. "I just started, too!"

"Uh…well…okay. Let's battle. Nuzleaf, you start out." Nuzleaf obeyed and hopped in between Aster and the girl.

"Go, Starmie!" the girl cried, barely moving her cloak as she released her Pokémon: a purple star with multiple points and jewel in the center. "Say, what was your name?"

"Aster. What yours?"

The girl ignored his question. "I must admit, Aster, you had me a bit confused. I took one look at you and your clothes and figured you were a friend. But then I saw your Nuzleaf. Those Pokémon are Grass _and_ Dark. None of my friends use Dark-type Pokémon."

"Your…friends?" Aster was pretty confused, to say the least.

The girl nodded. "My friends. And since you aren't, I won't feel bad about this: Starmie, Ice Beam!"

"Nuzleaf, dodge!" It was too late; the Ice Beam attack slammed into Nuzleaf and pushed him straight into a tree.

"Misty!" Aster heard another girl's voice shriek. "Get _out_ of here!"

"Oh, if it isn't little Dawn." Misty smirked. "Visiting from Sinnoh, are we?"

Aster saw a girl with raven hair, a white hat, pink skirt and boots, and a black shirt burst through the trees. "Call off the battle and get out of here! Or do you want me to challenge you myself?"

"Fine. But only if _he_ wants to." Misty jabbed her thumb at Aster.

"Call it off!" Dawn yelled frantically at Aster.

"Huh? Why should I?" Aster raised eyebrow.

"Because…" Dawn grabbed onto Misty's cloak and ripped it off. "…_that's_ why."

Aster's mouth dropped open—the girl he had been battling was dressed entirely in white. In fact, Aster remembered Ash and Professor Oak mentioning a "Misty" in the same context as Team Light a few times.

"You wanna call it off _now_?" Dawn asked pointedly. Aster merely nodded. Dawn grabbed his arm and stomped towards the others, calling over her shoulder: "Get out of here, Misty. _Now_."

GXGXGX

Aster and Dawn left the forest to find Ash battling with a boy with green hair, who was also dressed in white.

"Uh-oh…" Dawn murmured. "Ash! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Dawn!" Ash yelped, surprised. "When did you—"

"Roserade! SolarBeam!" the boy Ash was battling cried. His Pokémon, a small, plant-like, green Pokémon with a tuft of white on its head began to absorb energy for its attack.

"Pikachu, dodge and use Thunder!" Ash countered. Pikachu was successful, dodging the SolarBeam and striking Roserade down. Everyone watched with baited breath as Roserade struggled to get up. Finally, it collapsed. Ash, however, failed to notice that its trainer also collapsed, unconscious. "Alright! He won't mess with me again!"

"Of course he won't," Chazz pointed out. "He's on our side."

"But…" Ash looked confused. "He's part of Team Light…"

"Don't tell me you've never beaten any of these guys!" Atticus exclaimed incredulously.

"Well, I was kinda scared that I'd…you know…get brainwashed, too."

"You can't let that stop you!" Jaden cried. "You gotta take chances sometimes!"

"And now we have a new ally." Axel smiled grimly. "Um…who is he, by the way?"

"Oh!" Ash gasped and ran over to his defeated opponent, who was just waking up. "Drew! Are you…you?"

The green-haired boy—Drew—groaned. "Ash? Wha-What happened?"

Ash blinked. "You don't remember?!"

"Oh, yeah," Syrus piped up. "We forgot to mention, when they get un-brainwashed, they don't remember actually _being_ brainwashed."

Ash rolled his eyes. "You could've mentioned that _before_! Anyway…" Ash turned to Dawn and Aster. "…Dawn. When did you get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago." Dawn gestured toward Aster. "My first action in Kanto was to save this guy from…Misty."

"Misty?" Ash repeated hoarsely.

"Wait, who's Misty?" Drew looked from Ash to Dawn. "Your girlfriend?"

Ash glared at him in response. "I think I liked the white-obsessed Drew better. At least _he_ didn't make stupid comments."

"What was that?!"

"You heard me!"

"Guys!" Dawn yelled. "Stop it! Now's not the time!"

"You're right, Dawn." Ash sighed. "What did Misty do?"

"She challenged him. I got there just in time to get him to call it off; he didn't know who she was at first, plus she was wearing a light blue cloak to cover up those _tacky_ white clothes," Dawn explained.

Ash rolled his eyes. _Tacky white clothes_…_same old Dawn_…

"I have a name, you know," Aster snapped at Dawn.

"And what would that be?"

"Aster. Aster Phoenix."

Dawn and Drew took one look at each other and collapsed from hysterical laughter.

Aster's face turned red. "It's not that funny!"

Ash laughed too, mostly at the look on Aster's face. "Yeah, it is. I would've laughed too, but I was too angry. Seriously, dude, your name is a _flower_."

GXGXGX

**Finally! A girl showed up! Plus, Drew showed up! Wait a second…Drew…+ Ash…+ Aster…=…Uh-oh. Stay tuned for about 20 arguments per chapter, people!**

**Also, in case you haven't noticed, I'm paying more attention to Aster than most of the other characters; that's cause I like Aster the best, as proven by every single one of my other YGO GX stories. XD**

**And I know all these characters are supposed to be in Johto or Sinnoh right now, but…I'll explain it next chapter.**


	10. Drew Gives Information

**And I still don't own either of them.**

GXGXGX

"Well, what good is this gonna do us?" Ash grumbled. "We got _Drew_. Gary's, like, V.P. of Team Light and Misty's, like, V.V.P. Drew doesn't have _any_ status."

"Um, hello, I'm standing right here." Drew crossed his arms, stumbled, and leaned against a tree; being brainwashed can take a lot out of you. "And for your information, I _did_ have a status."

"I thought they couldn't remember anything," Ash whispered to Jaden.

"Well, they sometimes remember _some_ things," Jaden whispered back.

"Let's see how much he remembers," Aster joined in. "Hey, Drew. Exactly how much _do_ you remember?"

"Um…" Drew's face showed immense concentration as he slid down the tree to sit on the ground, still feeling energy-deprived. "I remember…that I was supposed to keep an eye on May and Max…make sure they weren't having any second thoughts."

"Why would they have second thoughts?" Aster questioned.

"Because they aren't part of Team Light. They only do what their dad tells them."

"Th-They're like you, Aster…" Syrus gasped. "At first. But there's so many members…this _Team_ seems to be spreading a lot faster than our Society."

"That's because they're recruiting members from different regions," Drew explained. "It spread from Hoenn—Petalburg City, specifically—to Johto—for May—then onto Kanto, to take over Team Rocket for a home base. I'm not aware that they've reached Sinnoh yet. They brought their top members from Hoenn and Johto to help at the base, but left lesser members to recruit more people. That's about all I remember…" Drew trailed off and closed his eyes. Soon they heard his breathing grow more relaxed and even—he was asleep.

"He's tired," Ash stated.

Aster rolled his eyes. "Really? I thought people slept when they're hyper."

It took all of Ash's willpower to resist retaliating. "Doesn't matter…you guys all managed to catch those Pokémon I told you to catch?" Everyone except Syrus and Atticus nodded. "Great. We'll see how many of you can beat Brock; if you can't beat _him_, at least, you'll be of no use in taking down TL."

"It would be a lot easier if we had May," Dawn spoke up.

"Well…" Ash mused. "Drew _did_ say she wasn't brainwashed…Aster, you said you were in her position? How'd you get out?"

Aster scowled at the memory. "I found out that the Light of Destruction—or, as I thought at the time, my best friend—was just using me."

"How'd you figure?"

"Well…" Aster thought back to the first time he figured out Sartorius's plot…

_FLASHBACK!_

_Aster stepped out of the main Duel Academy duel arena, where he had just lost to Jaden, who had mysteriously shown up with some new cards moments before Aster was about to duel Alexis Rhodes for the fate of the Slifer Red dorm_._ He reached into his pocket and pulled out his orange cell phone to try and call Sartorius_:

"_The number you are trying to reach is not in service," the operator's calm voice rang out over the line_._ "No further information is available_._"_

_Aster pulled the cell phone away from his ear and clicked the button to hang up_._ "Okay, I need some answers, Sartorius," he mused aloud_._ "Where are you? And what's this 'Society of Light'?" Aster recalled Chazz as he said this, who had appeared to him before that fateful duel with Jaden_…

_FLASHBACK __**WITHIN**__ A FLASHBACK!!_

"_So, Aster, have you heard?" Chazz grinned cockily_._ "I'm in the club_…_the Society of Light_…_I know Sartorius sent you!"_

_END FLASHBACK __**WITHIN**__ A FLASHBACK_

"_Just how many secrets have you kept?" Aster wondered, still aloud_._ "How many lies have you told? I'm gonna find out_._" Aster paused, remembering Sartorius telling him that Jaden was threat_._ "I have a feeling I know why you're so obsessed with Jaden_—_he's not a threat to _me_, he's a threat to _you_!"_

_END FLASHBACK_

"That's basically it." Aster shrugged. "I realized that there was no way _Jaden_ could be a threat to my career: he was—is—still in school! Plus, he seemed like an okay guy." Aster immediately wished he could have taken that last sentence back.

"Really?! You really think so, Aster?!" Jaden shrieked and hugged Aster. "Aw, thanks, buddy!"

"Jaden…get…off…" Aster groaned as he pried the Slifer off of himself. "_Anyway_, as I was saying, I realized Sartorius had lied, and what Chazz had told me didn't help his case too much, either."

"So…why hasn't May or Max realized the same thing?" Dawn asked, her voice lined with hopelessness.

"I dunno." Aster shrugged again. "Sartorius was my best friend…but Norman's their father, right? I'm not exactly the expert on the subject of fathers, but I know for a fact that they're higher up on the priority list than best friends. It's strange, though…" Aster shook his head. "They should still be able to see what's going on around them, what with TL. They obviously weren't oblivious to it, since they had Drew checking up on them. How old are they, anyway?"

"May's about my age, fourteen. By now, Max should be eleven. I haven't seen him for a while," Ash replied, somewhat guiltily on the last part.

"Hmm…maybe they're too young to understand…" Aster decided aloud. "Yeah, bet that's it…"

"Hey!" Ash cried indignantly. "That's my age!"

"Oh…sorry…not changing my theory, though," Aster returned stubbornly.

"Bro, you were _fifteen_ when you figured it out," Jaden pointed out.

"And held two different PhDs," Aster retaliated.

"…I didn't know that."

"There're a lot of things you don't know about me, Jay."

"Sorry to interrupt, but has anyone seen Jesse?" Jim suddenly questioned. Everyone was left speechless for a moment at the abruptness of Jim's question before they realized that he was right—Jesse wasn't there.

"Jesse! Where's you go?!" the entire group (except for _some_ people who would very soon be woken up by all the yelling) shouted.

"Aw, man!" Ash groaned. "I can't believe I lost him! Professor Oak's so gonna _kill_ me!"

GXGXGX

**Gasp! Jesse disappeared! No way!**

**This one's kinda short compared to previous chapters…but I have homework still and it's 10:00 night. So…**

**Later!**


	11. Jesse's Found With a Friend

**This chapter starts off following Jesse (so, no, he's not dead or brainwashed or anything), who's "missing."**

**Still don't own anything.**

GXGXGX

"Alright!" Jesse cheered, picking up his newly captured Pokémon's ball from the ground. "I finally caught a third Pokémon! I guess we better get back to the clearing now, huh Eevee? The others are probably back by now, too."

"_Eevee!_" Eevee agreed.

"Now…" Jesse spun around in a full circle at least three times. "…where was it again?"

GXGXGX

Merely a few yards away from Jesse, one lone kid was running for his life from two people dressed in white.

"After him!"

"We can't let him escape!"

The kid, panting heavily, weaved through the trees so his pursuers wouldn't see where he went when he dove into that bush…and landed on some weird teenager with teal hair.

"What in tarn—" the teen began with a southern accent. The boy clamped his hand over his mouth so they wouldn't be heard.

"I think he went this way!" One of his pursuers exclaimed, pointing in the opposite direction from the boy.

"Right," the other one agreed and followed his partner into the trees.

The boy waiting a few moments before rolling off of the teen.

"What in tarnation was that?!" the teen cried.

"I was being _chased_," the boy replied angrily.

"Oh. Well, uh…who was chasing you?"

"Team Light."

"Hey!" the teen exclaimed happily. "That means you're on our side!"

The boy gave him a weird look. "Who _are_ you?"

"Name's Jesse. Jesse Anderson." The teen beamed.

"I've never seen you before," the boy stated skeptically.

"Well, that's cause I'm from another dimension," Jesse said this as if being from another dimension was an everyday thing.

"O…kay…" the boy sweatdropped.

"You don't believe me, do ya?" Jesse asked knowingly.

"Not…really. It's kinda hard to believe." the boy laughed.

"Well, this is even stranger: I'm here to stop an evil alien from taking over the planet! Except, I'm not supposed to be. Only _some_ of my group is supposed to be. Me, Jim, Axel, and Adrian are just sorta tagging along for the ride," Jesse explained.

"Um…okay. Well, I, uh, gotta go now, so…" the boy started nervously.

"Jesse!" Suddenly, another teenager broke through the trees surrounding them; this one was dressed in a silver suit with matching hair. "There you are; we've been looking all over for you!"

"AH!" the boy shrieked. "I thought we were on the same side!"

"We are!" Jesse attempted to assure him.

"Then what are you doing with _him_?!" the boy cried shrilly, pointing.

"Huh?" Jesse looked from the other teen to the boy. "Oh, you mean Aster? Don't worry about him, kid; he's just got a twisted, deranged sense of fashion."

"Hey!" Aster protested. "What do you mean by that?"

"What do you mean 'what do I mean'? I meant what I said and I said what I meant—"

"Oh, quoting a children's picture book author now, are we?" Aster crossed his arms. (**A/N: That would be Dr. Seuss, btw. I don't own him, his books, or that quote Jesse said, either**)

"Um, guys…?" the boy asked.

"Huh?" Aster glanced at the boy. "Jesse, who's the kid?"

"_I_…" the boy emphasized, angry that Aster had asked Jesse who he was instead of himself. "…am Max."

"Max?" Aster blinked. "Wait a second…how old are you?"

"Eleven. Why?"

"I think I know someone who's gonna want to see you. I just have one question: where's you sister, Max? Where's May?"

Max sighed. "It's a long story…"

"Then we'll bring you back with us so you can tell the others." Aster turned around. "Come on, let's go; you too, Jesse."

GXGXGX

**Jesse's found! And Max has shown up! I'll update more later, but that was just begging—"Please, end the chapter with this sentence, please!" So that's why I ended it with a cliffie! Please review!**


	12. Something Resembling a Plan and a Fight

**Sorry it took me so long to update (well, it wasn't that long, but for me it was) but I was up in the mountains (no internet) and I have like five projects due before I get back from spring break and you don't care so moving on…**

**And, as it has been for the past couple chapters, heavily implied Pokeshipping and Contestshipping.**

**Nope, I **_**still**_** don't own GX or Pokémon.**

GXGXGX

"Hey, guys!" Aster shouted, emerging from some bushes. "I found Jesse! And he had a friend who I think you might be interested to see with him."

"Really? Who?" Axel turned to Aster, who noticed that it was only Axel, Chazz, Adrian, Dawn and a now-conscious Drew present…

"Hey, where's everyone else?"

"You mean Slacker, Short-fry, Atticus, Aussie, and your twin? Still looking for Jesse," Chazz commented, pointing over his shoulder.

"He's _not_ my twin," Aster growled.

"So, who'd you find?" Drew asked, almost uncaring, as if he only said anything to prevent yet _another_ Aster-centered argument. Ironic that…oh, never mind; you'll see.

Aster scowled, but before he could say anything…

"Drew?! It that you?!" Max rocketed out of the bushes, closely followed by Jesse. "It _is_ you!"

Drew's eyes widened. "Max?! Where's May?"

"Is that all you can think about?" Aster interrupted. "'Where's May? Where's May?' You won't be happy until we find her—you sound just like Ash! Whenever we mention this 'Misty' chick, his right eye starts to twitch and he changes the subject! It's also how Professor Oak got him to accept training us: 'They can save Misty, Ash.' Are they your girlfriends, or something?"

GXGXGX

_Two minutes later_…

"Um…are we missing something here?" Ash asked as he, Jaden, Syrus, Atticus, and Jim appeared and spotted a huge dust cloud in the middle of the clearing.

"Hey, Aster found Jesse!" Jaden cheered as he spotted Jesse (and completely ignored the giant cloud of dust, let alone Ash's question), who was staying as far away from the dust cloud as possible with Max by his side. "And…some kid."

"I'm Max," Max interjected pointedly. "And I'm sorta responsible for that." Max sheepishly gestured to the huge cloud of dust in the center of the clearing, which everyone was warily watching.

"Um…yeah. Exactly what _is_ that?" Atticus asked.

"_That_ would be Aster learning that, one, white suits get dirty _really_ easily, and two, he's not as good at wrestling as he thought he was," Adrian smirked. "I bet it would be real entertaining to watch him get his butt kicked by a fourteen-year-old (whose main Pokémon is a _rose_, might I add)—too bad we can't see anything. You know, I don't think I've ever seen one of those 'fight clouds' in real life before. Cartoons, maybe, but not real life."

"Wait, hold on…Aster's _fighting_? With who?" Jaden asked incredulously, eyes wide.

"Drew. Aster made some crack about May being Drew's girlfriend."

"That'll do it," Ash verified.

"He said the same thing about you and Misty, too."

"_WHAT?!_ First Drew, now Aster?! She's not my girlfriend!"

"Grab him!" Dawn yelped as she latched onto Ash's arm.

"Dawn, I'm not gonna join the fight," Ash laughed. "I may have just as short a fuse as Drew, but I'm not one for fights—I prefer verbal attacks."

"So, um…who wants to separate them?" Jaden asked, pointing at the dust cloud.

Jesse snorted. "Not me." He had learned not to mess with Aster after the Morning Punch episode.

"I'll do it," Jim volunteered. "Shirley and I 'ave faced a whole pack of dingoes before—I doubt a pair of angry teenagers should be too much of a problem." Jim turned around and let Shirley lose from his back. "Go get 'em, girl!"

First, Shirley grabbed Drew by the leg and dragged him over to Jim, who grabbed his arms in a successful attempt to hold him back. Then, Shirley grabbed Aster's leg to hold him in place in the middle of the clearing and prevent him from attacking his now-defenseless opponent.

Jim frowned down at Drew. "It looks like you, mate, owe us an explanation. You don't just _attack_ a kid two years older than yourself for making a one stupid little comment."

"I'm just upset about May—" Drew tried to explain.

"Don't feed us that!" Aster shouted from the middle of the field. "That's Ash's excuse with Misty, too! OW! Jim! Tell Shirley to let go—stop it; that _hurts_!"

"Jaden didn't try to kill me or Hassleberry when we said he was going on a date with Alexis when _she_ was brainwashed," Syrus pointed out.

"Who're Hassleberry and Alexis?" Ash asked.

"That's irrelevant; tell you later."

"The point Syrus is trying to make is…" Atticus grinned slyly. "Was Aster dead on?"

"That wasn't—" Syrus tried to tell Atticus that that wasn't his point, but Atticus wouldn't hear it.

"Is she really your girlfriend?" he asked suspiciously. "On the same note, Ash, is Misty _yours_?"

Ash and Drew glanced at each other before answering in unison: "NO!"

"That was a pretty defensive 'no.'"

"They aren't!" Drew growled. "Maybe I'm just a violent person, ever think of that?!"

"How about you ask them?!" Ash challenged. "I mean, _they_ would know whether they were our girlfriends, right?"

Atticus put his hand to his chin in thought. "Alright. I think I will. First, we get May back to ask her, because we have the resources to. Then, Ash, tell us what's up with this Misty girl so we can ask her, too."

Ash's eyes widened in surprise. _I was being sarcastic_…

"Hey, Silver-Hair was right," Drew commented, staring at Ash.

"My name is _Aster_!" Aster corrected irritably.

Drew rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Right about what?" Ash asked, confused.

"Your right eye really _does_ twitch when someone talks about Misty."

Atticus turned to Max, ignoring Ash, who looked like he was using up all his willpower to convince himself to "_ignoreDrewignoreDrewignoreDrew_…" "So, Max," Atticus started. "Where's your sister?"

"It all started when Drew joined Team Light, after Dad made May try to beat Ash in a battle to brainwash him…" Max began.

_FLASHBACK!_

"_Drew?!" May gasped_. _"You joined Dad's Team, too?!"_

"_That's right_._" Drew smirked, brushing some hair out of his face_. _"I've seen the Light_._"_

"_But Drew_…_" May started_._ "The people in Team Light _change._ I met Misty only once, but now…she's cold and distant_._ Same with my dad_._ It's _scaring_ me, Drew_._ I was even considering_…_quitting_._"_

"Quitting?!_" Drew shouted, his eyes blazing, his tone enraged_._ "How could you even think like that?!"_

"_Drew, I_—_AH!" May recoiled as Drew struck her across the face_.

"_Don't even _joke_ about that," Drew hissed, turning his back and retreating, slamming the door behind himself as he left_.

"_May!" Max cried, jumping out from the couch, where he had been sitting_._ "Are you alright?"_

_May didn't answer; she just stared at the door, cupping her cheek with her hand, tears welling up in her eyes_.

"…_May?"_

_END FLASHBACK_

All eyes were on Drew.

"I don't remember that," he mumbled feebly, obviously ashamed of himself.

"Ahem!" Max interrupted. "I wasn't _finished_ yet! So anyway, after a few days of Drew hanging outside our room, poking his head in every hour or so, May started to get upset. Finally, we devised an escape plan and carried it out yesterday…"

_FLASHBACK_…_AGAIN!_

"_Max," May whispered urgently_._ "We have to get _out_ of here!"_

"_You're right," Max agreed_.

"_I was thinking," May began_._ "The oldest trick in the book is saving our sheets and tying them together to form a chain out the window_._ We're only on the second floor, so it isn't as dangerous as it _could_ be_._ So maybe, after saving our sheets for two days each_…_"_

"_That's four sheets_._ Just enough to get us to the bottom," Max finished_.

_GXGXGX_

_Two days later…_

"_We've done it, Max!" May cheered as she hopped off the rope of sheets and landed on the ground beside her brother_._ "We're free!"_

"_We should find Ash, May," Max decided_._ "He'll probably know what do_._"_

_May nodded_._ "Right_._ Let's_—_" Suddenly, May gasped_._ "I heard something_._ Voices_._"_

"_Hey!" May and Max jumped as a man in white spotted them_._ "Shouldn't you two be in your room?!"_

"_We were, um, taking a walk," May lied_.

"_Without supervision?" the guard sneered_._ "Yeah, right_._ Time to get you back to your room_._"_

"_Max," May whispered to her brother, "RUN!"_

_END FLASHBACK_

"We got separated," Max explained. "She ran one way and I ran the other. I don't know where she went."

"Well, shoot," Jesse frowned. "Looks like we'll have to go out and find her."

"It won't be that easy." Max shook his head. "Team Light overran the Silph Co. again; that's their new headquarters."

Syrus took out his map from his pack. "But this map says it's in…Saffron City. That's…halfway across the region?! No way!"

"It's not as far as you think," Ash reassured them. After a few raised eyebrows, he continued. "Okay, it is. It would be faster if you guys had bikes…but we can't get those until we get to Cerulean City."

"That's right above Saffron City," Syrus noted, examining his map. "By the time we get there, we won't need bikes!"

Dawn glanced over Syrus's shoulder. "That's right. Besides, we have to stop there." Dawn pointed at a city to the top left of the map. "That's Pewter City. That's where Brock is, right, Ash?"

Ash nodded. "Right. But I should show you guys something." Jim, realizing the fight was over, released Drew and Shirley did the same to Aster. "Come here," Ash continued as he led the group over to a cliff and pointed at the small town below. "That's Viridian City."

"Once we make it through the city and Viridian Forest," Dawn explained, "we'll be right at Pewter City."

"She's right!" Syrus asserted. "We're almost there!"

"You might even catch some Pokémon in the forest," Drew reminded them.

"That's always a plus," Chazz said emotionlessly.

"Well, what're we waiting for?!" Jaden asked excitedly. "Let's go!"

GXGXGX

**Okay, next chapter will take place it Pewter City. By that time, everyone will have some changes in their lineup, since there really isn't time to go over every single one of their adventures**—**I hate 40-chapter stories.**

**So, here's what Pokémon everyone will have (also, I know some aren't found in Kanto, but let's just pretend there was some sort of Great Pokémon Migration or something). Plus I'll have Ash, Dawn, and Drew's lineup as well:**

**Ash:**** (I tried to make sure he had different Pokémon than everyone else)**

**Pikachu (duh)**

**Charizard**

**Torterra (from his Turtwig/Grotle)**

**Feraligatr (from his Totodile)**

**Sceptile**

**Donphan**

**Dawn:**** (I would have tried to make sure she had different Pokémon, too, but she only had 5 to begin with, while Ash had, like, 20)**

**Empoleon (from her Piplup)**

**Ambipom**

**Lopunny (from her Buneary)**

**Pachirisu**

**Mamoswine**

**Drew:**

**Roserade**

**Masquerain**

**Flygon**

**Absol**

**Butterfree**

**Jaden:**

**Chimchar (AKA Sushi Lollypop the Fifth)**

**Munchlax**

**Tropius**

**Psyduck**

**Syrus: ****(I tried to give him and Atticus all cute Pokémon)**

**Piplup**

**Togepi**

**Ralts**

**Pachirisu**

**Chazz:**

**Misdreavus (AKA Myst)**

**Haunter (from his Gastly)**

**Mawile**

**Sableye**

**Atticus:**

**Igglybuff (AKA Cuddles)**

**Skitty**

**Shinx**

**Vulpix**

**Aster:**

**Riolu**

**Poochyena**

**Nuzleaf**

**Skarmory**

**Jesse:**

**Eevee**

**Meowth**

**Swinub**

**Turtwig (yeah, he caught a starter in Viridian Forest, but I said that his Pokémon represent the Crystal Beasts, and the only other turtle Pokémon I could think of was Squirtle, and the Beast is **_**Emerald **_**Tortoise)**

**Jim:**

**Cubone (AKA Skull Knight)**

**Geodude**

**Onix**

**Aron**

**Axel:**

**Cyndaquil (AKA Cinder)**

**Magmar**

**Carvanha**

**Torkoal**

**Adrian:**

**Swablu**

**Ninjask (from his Nincada)**

**Tentacruel**

**Cacnea**

**So, that's everyone. As you can see, I gave the GX people 4 Pokémon. And I guess that's about it.**

**LONGEST CHAPTER EVER (for me)! WRITE A REVIEW TO CELEBRATE!**


	13. The Moments You've All Been Waiting For!

**And now the moment everyone's been waiting for…you'll have to read on! And if you weren't waiting for this particular moment (which is about halfway through the story), then there's another moment at the end you should like.**

**Still don't own 'em.**

GXGXGX

"Sunlight! Sweet, sweet sunlight!" Jaden cried, holding his arms to the heavens. "Thank the gods!"

"Um, Jaden?" Dawn asked, approaching Jaden.

"We were lost for hours and hours and—"

"Jaden?"

"—hours and hours and we couldn't get out! We were trapped! Trapped in the Forest of Doom!"

"Jaden—"

"Did we all make it out?! Syrus, where's Syrus? What about Chazz? Atticus? _Jesse?_ Where is everyone?!"

"JADEN!"

"Yes, Dawn?"

By this time, Dawn was _very _frustrated. Her hands were balled into fists at her sides, she was breathing heavily, and she wore a scowl that could wither a crocodile (Jim covered Shirley's eyes). "We were only in Viridian Forest for two hours! TOPS! And everyone else is up there." She pointed at the group in front of them; obviously Jaden and Dawn were the last ones out.

"Wait…so…we were the last ones out?"

Okay, maybe not so obviously.

Everyone had caught one Pokémon (Chazz's Gastly, Adrian's Nincada, and Axel's Magby had even evolved into Haunter, Ninjask, and Magmar) each in Viridian Forest and they were only now exiting. Soon they would be in Pewter City to rest their Pokémon and grab some dinner (to the relief of Jaden).

"Hey, Dawn, Drew," Ash called. "How about, after dinner, you guys show Syrus and Atticus what contest battles are all about."

"Sounds like a plan," Dawn agreed.

"I'm game." After a pause, Drew added, "It's…_just_ Syrus and Atticus, right?"

"Yes…" Ash replied warily.

"Where will everyone else be?"

"Training with me. Relaxing if they want, I guess."

"Good."

Ash decided it was best not to ask Drew to elaborate, but he had a feeling it had something to do with the brief fight episode last chapter—he didn't want a repeat of that. From the look on Aster's face, Ash deduced that he had figured as much as well. Fortunately, he didn't say anything.

GXGXGX

"Jaden, STOP!" Ash cried. "This food costs _money_! _My_ money!"

"Huh?" Jaden detached his face from his plate of Pokémon Center food. "Mohy?" he asked, the word "money" muffled by the food in his mouth.

"Yeah, money." Ash rolled his eyes. "Just…take it down a notch, alright?"

Syrus giggled. "That's like asking a Munchlax to 'take it down a notch.'" The gang had been learning more and more of Pokémon and their habits, especially the ones already caught.

"That's the truth," Chazz mumbled. "Slacker will eat anything."

"Slacker?" Ash laughed. "Is that, like, Jaden's nickname or something?"

Chazz smirked. "Something like that."

"It is _not_!" Syrus protested. "That's just what _Chazz_ calls him. Jaden's nickname is _Jay_. Isn't that right, Jay?" Jaden was too busy continuing with his meal to answer.

"Well, since everyone except Jaden is done—" Dawn started.

"Actually, Jay-dude _is_ done," Atticus interrupted. "He's on—what is it? Fifth's?"

"Seventh's," Adrian corrected.

"And—ugh—counting," Aster added as Jaden licked his plate clean.

"Forget I asked! Dawn exclaimed. "As I was saying, how about me, Drew, Syrus, and Atticus go train now?"

Ash nodded. "Sounds good. Wasn't there a Contest Hall added here a while back?"

"That's right," Drew replied. "After we train, we'll take them there tomorrow."

"But _we're_ seeing Brock tomorrow," Ash protested.

"That'll take two seconds." Drew waved his hand, as if to wave away the protest. "Contests take over a day until the final round."

"One, if it takes such a short time, then it shouldn't be a problem for us to go first. And two, it won't take a short time anyway; there's seven of them!"

"Hey, hey, guys, guys." Dawn jumped in between the two and stuck her hands out. "Stop it! Drew, it's the contest _registration_ is tomorrow; the actual contest is the next day. We'll go to the gym tomorrow and go to the contest the day after. And Ash, you can schedule a gym battle whenever; contests dates are set. You need to be more flexible with that."

"You're a pretty good mediator for those two, Dawn," Jim noted.

Dawn grinned. "I've had some practice. Come on, boys, let's go."

GXGXGX

"The structure of contests goes like this: first, it's the appeal. Then, you battle it out." Drew shrugged. "It's simple as that. But after you understand the structure, _that_'s when it gets hard."

"Um…I still don't quite get the structure…" Syrus murmured.

"That's cause _somebody_ forgot to tell you what the appeal and 'battling it out' is!" Ash shouted out an open window.

Drew gave him a silent glare. In response, Ash flashed a thumbs up, grinned, and slammed the window shut.

"He's right, you know." Dawn winked. "Alright boys, the appeal is when you show off your Pokémon's moves. Like so. Pachirisu, spotlight!" Dawn dramatically released her Pachirisu.

"Hey, you have one of them, too!" Syrus cried, shocked that Dawn had the same Pokémon as the one he had caught in Viridian Forest.

"Uh huh." Dawn nodded. "Now, Pachirisu, use Discharge!" Blasts of lightning let lose from Pachirisu's body. "Now, follow with Sweet Kiss!" Small red hearts were scattered after the bolts of electricity, wowing Syrus and Atticus. Drew stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned against a tree. "Awesome job, Pachirisu! Now, boys, that's just a _simple_ combo. There are many other combinations Pokémon can use in a contest appeal." Dawn finished, recalling her Pokémon.

"Cool!" Atticus exclaimed exuberantly.

"You just try to make your moves as awesome and breathtaking as possible," Drew explained. "Sixteen people move on from the appeal out of all who try out. The rest are out of the running. Each of the sixteen is pitted against someone and the people who lose are also out of the running. Then it's down to eight. The battle each other again until there's four. When there's finally two, they battle each other in the final match; whoever wins gets the Contest Ribbon. When you have five you can participate in the Grand—"

"Drew!" Dawn interrupted. "We'll cross that bridge eventually. They've never even seen a Contest Hall before!"

"Contest Hall?" Atticus questioned.

"It's where the contests take place."

"And…what did Drew mean when he said 'pitted against each other'? We aren't…fighting, are we?" Syrus asked nervously.

Dawn laughed. "No! Your _Pokémon_ battle!"

Syrus breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, okay. Just like training, then?"

"_Just_ like training. Except with _one_ little difference. You have to keep the appeal factor. If you appeal enough, you'll win before any Pokémon has to faint. Oh, and one more thing. Between the appeal and the battling, most people switch Pokémon."

_Meanwhile, inside the Pokémon Center_…

"How are they doing?" Max asked Ash, who, unbeknownst to Dawn and Drew, was still peeking out the Pokémon Center window.

"Well, now that Drew shut up, they seem to be doing okay…I can't really hear unless I open the window, though," Ash replied. "Hey, wait a second…Max, you're eleven."

"Really?" Max said sarcastically. "I could have _sworn_ I was twenty-one."

"If you're eleven then…you're a trainer! You got your starter Pokémon!"

"Yeah, a _year ago_," Max stated pointedly, rolling his eyes.

"What kind of Pokémon do you have?" Ash asked excitedly. "How many have you caught?"

At this point, Jim strode into the room. "I don't think you have the authority to ask that, mate."

"Huh?" Ash scowled. "Why's that?"

"You still haven't answered _our_ question."

"Well, really, it was Atticus's question, but still—" Jesse commented as the rest of the gang entered the room.

"Aw, man, not _this_ again," Ash moaned.

"Flashback time!" Jaden cheered in a sing-song voice.

"Oh, alright, _fine_!" Ash gave in. "I'll tell you what happened with Misty…"

_FLASHBACK!_

_Ash poked his head around the tree. There was a meeting of the relatively small—but incredibly-growing—Team Light. So far, it only consisted of Norman, Gary, May, Max, and Team Rocket, but the latter was a huge organization._

_May and Max were the only two not wearing white. Ash scowled; Norman had sent May to battle Ash (he had won, of course), but that battle had been dangerous. May could have taken away his freewill! Suffice to say, he no longer trusted her._

_He shifted his weight. What he didn't know was that there was a small twig underneath his foot…_

CRACK!

"_What was that?!" Norman demanded. He caught sight of Ash's hat as the boy tried to quietly slip away. "Ketchum. Get him!"_

_Ash gave up trying to slip away quietly and tore through the woods full speed._

"_After him!"_

"_Catch Ketchum!"_

"_No!" Ash gasped. He had run right into a river filled with rapids. He (idiotically) had left his Pokémon with Professor Oak during his mission, so they wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. He had no escape. No way out. Ash slowly turned to face his pursuers: about twenty Team Light members. There was no way he could get out of this; they would capture him and bring him back to Norman, where he would be lent Pokémon and forced to battle._

"_Ash!" Ash wheeled around to find…Misty! She was riding her Gyarados, which was easily avoiding the currents and rapids. Misty leapt off Gyarados and returned it to its ball. "Take Gyarados and get out of here, Ash!"_

"_Misty!" Ash protested as Misty handed him the Pokéball. "What about you?!"_

"_I'll hold them off. Just _go_!" Misty pulled out another Pokéball. "Go, Starmie!"_

_Ash gazed at the ball in his hand, released Gyarados, and floated away down the river, not even looking back._

_END FLASHBACK_

Ash stared at the floor, his bangs covering his eyes, fists clenched at his sides. "I didn't even look back. I knew there was no way that she could take on twenty at once. But I didn't do any thing to stop her. There was room for both of us on that Gyarados, but I knew they would chase us if there wasn't a distraction. Misty knew that too."

There was silence. _That's_ why Ash was so touchy about Misty: she sacrificed herself to save him.

GXGXGX

"HEY!"

"Oh, quit complaining—it's ELEVEN!"

"I like to sleep LATE!"

Drew smirked, an empty bucket (which had previously held ice water) dangling from his hand. "Looks like we'll have to break you of that."

"Guys, are you ready yet?" Ash poked his head in the room. "I told Brock that we'll meet him in two hou—_what _happened?!" Ash spotted the bucket in Drew's hand, which was steadily dripping freezing water onto the floor. "Oh. You know, you could have just told him to get up like I told Jaden. Well, _screamed_ at Jaden, but you get the point."

Drew shrugged. "This way was more fun."

"I'm gonna kill you someday," Aster grumbled, sitting up, shaking his head, and causing water to fly everywhere.

"I'd like to see you try," Drew mocked.

Ash sighed. "Shut up and get some breakfast, you two. First, we register for the contest; that leaves just enough time to meet up with Brock." Ash turned around and began to walk away. "Oh, and Aster, this reminds me: while we're in town, we'll need to get you some new clothes after we face Brock. You've probably noticed that battling in _suit_ isn't the best idea. And besides, speaking of ideas, we don't want Team Light getting the wrong one from your appearance."

As Ash left the room, Aster turned to the side on his bed, so that his feet were touching the floor. He swung his legs around and into the back of Drew's knees, causing them to buckle. "Oops, sorry. Did I do that?" Aster asked innocently as he stood up. Drew growled and closed his eyes, mentally counting to ten. When he opened his eyes, Aster was gone. Drew got up from where he lay on the floor and followed, grumbling to himself the whole way.

GXGXGX

"Now that you've registered for the contest," Dawn started. "You're totally ready to kick butt out there. Drew and I didn't enter because we wanted to give you the best chance possible. We _have_ been doing this for years."

Syrus and Atticus had just been registered in the Pewter City Pokémon contest; now they were on their way to the Pewter City Gym.

"Here we are!" Ash announced, stopping outside of a large building. "The Pewter City Gym." Ash cupped his hands to his mouth. "Hey, BROCK! You there?!"

No reply.

"Exactly _how_ is he supposed to hear you?" Aster scoffed.

Ash shrugged. "I thought he'd be waiting. I guess we'll just go on in." The others followed as Ash stepped through the Gym doors. "He should be in…here. Or not." Once again, Brock was no where to be found. "Where _is_—uh oh." Ash took off on a mad sprint around the building. "BROCK! BROCK, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"I'm over here!" a voice called from an adjoining room. "I'm in a Gym battle!"

Ash sighed in relief. "ALRIGHT! We'll just wait our turn then!" Ash turned back to the group. "That's a relief; he scared me for a minute, there. I thought that Team Light…"

"…came over a brainwashed him," Dawn finished. "So I guess we'll just have to wait here for a while, huh?"

"Looks like it." Ash turned to the doors leading into the room where Brock was. "Or we could see who he's battling." Ash poked his head through the door. "Hm. Never seen them before. But at least they aren't Team Light. The one's dressed about as obviously as Chazz is."

"They? There's more than one?" Chazz asked with a slight attitude from Ash's comment.

"There are two. The one is black's battling and the one in yellow's watching."

"Black? Yellow?" Syrus repeated.

Jaden glanced at him. "You don't think…?"

"Nah. Couldn't be." Syrus shook his head vigorously. "But…then again…"

Chazz and Atticus, who (amazingly) knew exactly what they were talking about, ran to the door. Chazz pushed Ash out of the way and glanced out.

"No way!" he gasped. "It's Zane…and Bastion!"

GXGXGX

**I did say that they would come if they got enough votes, didn't I? But besides that, I wanted to switch Aster's clothes for a while, so after Zane and Bastion explain how they got there and after the other seven battle Brock, they'll go shopping! YAY! I can think of at least two people who'll be looking forward to the opportunity (laughs evilly).**

**Oh, and SURPRISE! Ash is upset cause of the whole sacrifice thing. That means: no Pokeshipping. You can spin it that way in your minds (because I'm not pairing them with anyone), but the only romance in this story after this will be **_**implied**_** Contestshipping (implied cause Drew and May won't confess their love or anything—people will just tease them about it and Drew will get all pissed off and that's about the extent of it).**


	14. Gym Battles, Shopping, and Similarities

**Do I seriously have to state that I don't own it at the beginning of every chapter?!**

GXGXGX

"My brother?!" Syrus gasped. "Let me see!"

"Brother? Whoa, wait." Ash grabbed Syrus's collar as he zoomed past, stopping him in his tracks. "You can't interrupt his battle! You can go in after he's done."

"I gotta see my brother! Why would he come? Maybe he's changed back!" Syrus cried.

"Sorry, Syrus, but I doubt it," Aster noted. "From the sound of it, he's still got the goth-slash-emo look going."

Syrus noticeably sagged. Chazz smirked. "Yes folks, it _is_ yet _another_ stupid comment from Aster Phoen—OW! HE KICKED ME IN THE SHIN!"

"Shut up, Chazz, we're trying to listen!" Everyone else had gathered around the door and was trying to hear what was happening without disturbing the battle. A few moments later, they heard the referee shout: "Onix is unable to battle; the challenger wins."

Syrus banged open the door so hard it sounded like a gunshot. "ZANE! BASTION!"

Bastion, who was sitting in the bleacher as he watched his traveling companion **(A/N: now, you see, if **_**this**_** had been the **_**real**_** third season, there'd be all these Zane/Bastion pairings instead of Zane/Aster)** battle the Pewter City Gym Leader, jumped out of his seat and turned to the door. Meanwhile, Zane had wheeled around violently.

"_SYRUS?!_" they shouted together.

Jaden ran into the room and stopped beside his best friend. "…and Jaden! And-Chazz-and-Atticus-and-Jesse-and-Jim-and-Axel-and-Adrian-and-Aster!" he shouted, all in one breath. "Not to mention Ash, Drew, Dawn, and Max."

"Pardon me, Jaden." Bastion hopped down from the bleachers and approached Jaden and Syrus, along with Zane. "But who _are_ most of those people?"

"Jesse, Jim, Adrian, and Axel were Duel Academy transfer students this year, from North, South, East, and West Academy, respectively," Aster said calmly as he waltzed into the room with the people he had previously mentioned, plus Chazz and Atticus. He nodded his head at Zane and smirked. "Truesdale."

Zane glared and sneered at Aster. "_Phoenix_," he spat.

"Oh, no!" Dawn moaned as she, Ash, Drew, and Max walked into the room. "Not another one! Can't you boys _get along_?!"

"Ash! Dawn! And…Drew?! Max?!" Brock shouted as he ran over from the other side of the Gym. "What's _he_—?"

"He's reformed," Ash quickly explained. "I battled him and won, so he went back to normal. Anyway, I think introductions are in order."

"Alright! I'll start!" Jaden volunteered. "Bastion, Zane, this is Jesse, Jim, Axel, Adrian, Ash, Dawn, Drew, and Max. Jesse, Jim, Axel, Adrian, Ash, Dawn, Drew, Max, this is Bastion and Zane."

"My turn!" Dawn raised her hand cheerfully. "Brock, this is Jaden, Syrus, Chazz, Atticus, Jesse, Jim, Axel, Adrian, and Aster. Jaden, Syrus, Chazz, Atticus, Jesse, Jim, Axel, Adrian, Aster, this is Brock."

"Everybody got it?" Ash didn't wait for an answer. "Good. Brock, the, uh, seven of them want to challenge you when you're done with their friends."

Brock grinned. "Perfect; I'm done. Bastion went first, and Zane just finished up."

"Oh, oh!" Jaden starting jumping up and down. "Let me go first! Let me go first! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!"

"Okay!" Brock laughed.

"Yesss! Get'cha game on, Brock!"

"…Uh…"

Bastion leaned over to whisper in Brock's ear, "That's what he says when he wants to duel…and battle, I suppose."

"Oh, okay."

GXGXGX

"You're up, Tropius!" Jaden shouted as he released the aforementioned Pokémon.

"Let's go, Geodude!" Brock cried as he released his first Pokémon.

"Tropius, use Razor Leaf!" Jaden ordered.

"Dodge and use Rock Throw! Then try a Tackle!" Brock countered. The dodge was successful, but Jaden wasn't so lucky.

"Tropius, dodge!" It was too late; the grass Pokémon was bombarded by rocks. Fortunately, it wasn't very effective. But then came the Tackle. "Tropius! You okay?" Tropius nodded weakly in response. "Great! Now try Gust!"

In the bleachers where everyone was watching, Max shook his head. "He should have stuck with Razor Leaf. Though it's easier to dodge, if it hits Geodude, it'll deal some major damage."

Ash was right; the Gust attack made contact, but Geodude was only slightly more fazed than Tropius had been by Rock Throw (without the added Tackle).

"Um, okay, let's try Razor Leaf again," Jaden commanded, slightly unsure.

He got lucky. Razor Leaf made contact and finished the battle easily. However, the battle with Onix wasn't as easy of a time—Jaden made the decision to keep his Tropius out, which was injured from the battle with Geodude.

Onix defeated it within the first two moves, forcing Jaden to resort to the Psyduck he had caught. Jaden, after a few failed psychic-type moves (with Ash and Max in the bleachers muttering in unison, "Use Water Gun, idiot, _Water Gun_"), finally used Water Gun twice, only winning the second time.

GXGXGX

After Jaden, Chazz, Aster, Jesse, Jim, Axel, and Adrian battled Brock and won **(A/N: I figured it would get boring after a while recounting all seven battles)**, Bastion and Zane decided to tell them why the heck they were there.

"Well, before you even started your third year at Duel Academy, Chancellor Sheppard invited us over here," Bastion explained. "We've been traveling here for awhile; after all, you got your very own tour guides, while we were on our own. Professor Oak told us to head for the Pewter Gym, since we decided that we didn't think Contests were exactly our speed."

"So you just as much about Pokémon as we do?" Atticus raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"If not more," Zane asserted. "We spent a lot of time with Oak before heading out here. But you know more about Team Light and the people here than we do, from the sound of it." Syrus avoiding looking at his brother; the Zane _he_ knew would respect Professor Oak enough to call him _Professor_.

"Yeah," Chazz nodded. "We'll tell you—"

"_Later_," Dawn snarled. "They'll tell you _later_. Right now, we've got some important business to take care of…"

GXGXGX

"What's your favorite color? Material? How about some of these jeans—OH, LOOK! A _SALE_!" Dawn sprinted away from Aster to look at a hat sale in the corner. "Aren't they just adorable?! We'll take them all!"

"Um, Dawn?"

"Yes, Aster?"

"You can, you know, relax. I really don't need all those hats…" Aster stared at the gigantic pile of hats Dawn was hoping to purchase.

"Oh, but you do!" Dawn picked up three different hats. "These three you can't _live_ without, see? This one matches your eyes, _this_ one matches your hair, and this last one matches your skin tone! The rest of them can match the outfits we'll buy you!"

Aster glanced pleadingly at the others as Dawn gathered up every hat on the table. "A little help, please?"

Zane snickered. "You're on your own, Ass-turd."

"Hey, that's a good one!" Drew exclaimed. "Mind if I borrow it?"

Zane grinned evilly. "Anytime."

Aster turned pleadingly the two people in the group who knew Dawn well _and_ didn't wish him physical harm (well, one of them probably did, but they were on a truce). "Ash, Brock, would you help me out here?"

Brock looked toward Ash, who closed his eyes and grinned confidently. "Hey, Dawn. If you spend all your money on hats, you won't have enough money for all the outfits."

Dawn blinked. "Oh. Thanks, Ash; you're right! But you just _have_ to get this hat, Aster—the one that matches your eyes."

Aster sighed, thinking: _Out of the fire_…

Dawn paid for the bright blue hat, jammed it onto his head, and practically ripped his arm out of his socket as she pulled him to the clothes section.

…_and into the frying pan_.

"What did you wear before that suit?" Dawn questioned, rummaging through the clothes. "I mean, we should find what you're most comfortable in."

"Well, um…I wouldn't be caught dead in what I wore before the suit, personally." Aster stole a sidelong glance at Drew. "Not here, at least."

Dawn glanced back at him. "Why's that?"

"Um…well…"

"Hey, Sy?" Jaden suddenly asked.

"Yeah, Jay?" Syrus turned to Jaden.

"Remember that pic of Aster that one time with the D? The clothes he was wearing then?"

"Oh, yeah…" Syrus eyes widened in realization; then he burst out laughing. "H-he was wearing…"

"Shut up!" Aster hissed. Suddenly, he realized something. "Hey! When did you two see that picture?!" His eyes narrowed and he growled dangerously: "_When were you two on my boat?_"

"You have a boat?" Max's mouth dropped open in shock.

"WE'RE GETTING OFF TOPIC, PEOPLE!" Dawn screamed. "Aster, what did you wear before? Tell me _now_."

"…" Aster crossed his arms stubbornly.

Jaden started laughing. "He wore pink!"

"And he dressed like Drew!" Syrus added. "Except his pants only went to his knees and he wore a pink jacket, not a purple one."

Pretty soon, everyone in the room was laughing, even Drew.

Aster's face turned red—again. "It's not that funny!"

"You said your _name_ wasn't funny, either," Ash pointed out. "Plus, this isn't _just_ funny; it's ironic!"

"Just shut up," Aster muttered. "Come on, Dawn; let's find an outfit."

"I thought you'd never ask!" Dawn exclaimed.

GXGXGX

Two hours later, Aster and Dawn were finally finished. It took so long because Aster and Dawn could agree:

"Aster, the 'simple' look is so dead!"

"I've worn a gray _suit_ for the past six years of my life! I'm not looking vibrant, gaudy clothes! _Especially_ not a prince-like suit with gold armor-things on the shoulders!"

At this point, Ash laughed. "Dawn _likes_ prince-suits and armor-things." **(1)**

"Shut up, Ash."

Eventually, Aster got his way. He got off the hook with some blue denim cargo pants, a men's tank top, white sneakers with blue stripes, and some blue gloves, which came with the hat Dawn had insisted on. The baseball hat and gloves matched his eyes exactly **(A/N: you know how in GX their eyes are two different shades?)**, with the bill of the hat being a darker shade than the rest of it. The gloves were exactly like Ash's, except for the color—where Ash's gloves were black and green at the end, Aster's were light blue and dark blue at the end.

He could have done without the hat and gloves, but Dawn insisted.

"Does anyone else need a makeover?" Dawn asked gleefully when they were finally done. After deciding that everyone was fine, she skipped out of the store happily. "Come on, guys! Drew, how about we train some more with Syrus and Atticus, kay?"

Drew agreed and the four scampered off to show Syrus and Atticus the Contest Hall and help them prepare their act.

"So…who wants to train?" Ash asked the remaining eleven. He swore he could hear a cricket. "…Lunch?"

"Lunch!" Jaden cheered. Everyone else agreed and Ash reluctantly brought them to the closest restaurant with a cheap all-you-can-eat buffet.

GXGXGX

Halfway through the meal, Chazz found a marker and a napkin.

Five minutes later, Jaden, who was still stuffing his face, had a napkin on his back, which read as follows:

"Im a loseer. And a moreon. Chaz is tha bestest."

It was then that Ash noticed something…"Idiot! I can't believe I didn't notice that!"

"Notice what, mate?" Jim asked.

"The similarity!" Ask exclaimed.

"You know what 'similarity' means?" Aster smirked as he feigned surprise.

"I thought we were on a truce?" Ash asked, irritated.

Aster shrugged.

"Anyway…" Ash growled. "Chazz—you're just like Gary! You even _look_ like him!"

"Who?" Chazz was miffed, fairly certain that Ash would be comparing him to someone who was thoroughly unlikeable.

"Gary! My rival!" Ash's face suddenly fell. "The last time we battled, he beat me…" He let his forehead fall onto the table. "We're doomed."

"I thought you were a Pokémon Master!" Jaden gasped. "Someone beat you?!"

"He's a researcher," Ash explained. "It would only count if he wanted to be a master as well."

"So Norman won't be the toughest one to beat then…" Bastion realized.

"Wait, Gary's in Team Light?!" Jaden gasped.

Chazz rolled his eyes. "He's only told us about twenty times."

"We should probably get going…" Brock noted. "The others are probably done. Just grab them some food."

GXGXGX

They met up with Syrus, Atticus, Dawn, and Drew and returned to the Pokémon Center to practice battling some more. The rest of the day passed quickly and finally, the day of the Contest was upon them. After the Contest, they made plans to head to Cerulean City to get some bikes.

GXGXGX

**Alright, so in future chapters (not 100% sure when) I'm going to take a break from Pokémon and look at how the others are faring back on Duel Academy.**

**And as for footnotes:**

**That would be a Penguinshipping reference…however, Kenny will not appear in the story, and neither will any other Sinnoh characters, with the possible exception of Paul. Key word: **_**POSSIBLE**_** exception.**


	15. The Contest! Part 1

**No. I do not own them.**

GXGXGX

"Wow. That's kinda scary," Dawn noted as she watched Syrus and Atticus prepare for the Contest.

"You're right. I mean, look at them!" Drew exclaimed. They were referring to the difference in the personalities of the two duelists—Syrus was a nervous wreck, while Atticus was as calm as can be.

"Syrus, chill out!" Dawn attempted to calm Syrus down. "Just remember what I told you!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Syrus seemed to calm down, but his panic meter immediately shot back up. "What did you tell me again?!"

Dawn sighed. "Piplup. Bubblebeam. Peck. Remember?"

"Oh, right!" Syrus began to rummage through his bag. "And use this…AH! Where is it?!"

Dawn rolled her eyes and held up the Ball Capsule Seal she had given Syrus before the Contest. "Right here, Sy."

"So you're all set, then?" Drew asked Atticus as he crossed his arms.

"That's right!" Atticus gave Drew a thumbs up.

"You remember the trick I taught you, right?"

"No worries, Drew-dude." Atticus tapped his head. "It's all up here."

_That's what I'm worried about_… Instead of voicing his thoughts out loud again, however, Drew ran through the checklist. "You got the Ball Capsule Seal?"

"Yup."

"The juggling balls?"

"Check."

"Your outfit?"

Atticus glanced down at himself; he was dressed in the outfit he had worn when he dueled his sister last year over the whole "show biz" thing—dark blue suit with a white undershirt with ruffled cuffs and one large white ruffle coming over the collar, held in place by a green/blue gemstone. "What do you think?" It normally wasn't Atticus's nature to be sarcastic, but he couldn't help it.

"Just making sure that was what you were actually wearing. What about Skitty?"

"…"

"You _did_ remember your Pokémon, didn't you?"

"Of course I did! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to, uh, go to the bathroom." Atticus zoomed out of the room and was back a few minutes later, holding a Pokéball.

"Hey, guys! We forgot something!" Dawn exclaimed. "Your Pokétches!"

"Pokétches?" Atticus asked.

"Yeah!" Dawn cheered. "All the top coordinators have them, see?!" She and Drew held up their wrists (and Drew rolled down his sleeve), revealing pink and blue watch-things, presumably Pokétches.

Drew reached into his bag and pulled out yellow and blue Pokétches. "We called ahead and asked Brock to get them for us before we got to Pewter City. We just told him colors that matched your clothes. Hope that's okay."

"Hey, thanks!" Atticus said as he took the Pokétch from Drew's hand.

"Yeah," Syrus agreed as he took his. "Thanks a lot, guys. But…uh…what's it do?"

"All kinds of things!" Dawn cheered. "But we'll tell you after the Contest; it's not like you'll need it before then."

Dawn straightened out Syrus's overly-large bow tie (the only difference in his costume from his regular clothes) and put his Ball Capsule Seal on his Pokéball for him. "The contest's about to start; we'll be watching from the stands! I know you guys can do this!"

Drew was already halfway out the door; Dawn hurried to catch up to him. Then Syrus had another panic-attack and it was up to Atticus to get him to "CALM THE HECK DOWN, SYRUS!"

GXGXGX

After Lillian Meridian, the Kanto Contest Announcer, introduced the judges (Contesta, Mr. Sukizo and Pewter City's Nurse Joy) they began to compete. Since it was a small contest, only four people went on from the second round. Eventually, it was Atticus's turn…

"Wow 'em, Skitty!" Atticus yelled as he tossed his Pokéball. Skitty popped out of the ball in a flurry of hearts, thanks to the Ball Capsule Seal.

"An adorable start!" Lillian announced as the crowd cheered (half because of Skitty's cuteness, half because of Atticus's).

"Alright, Skitty!" Atticus threw the juggling balls to Skitty one by one. "Blizzard!"

One by one, Skitty froze the balls in midair. As they came back down to earth, Atticus commanded that it use Double-Slap. Soon, Skitty was juggling frozen balls with its tail.

Drew grinned and nodded his head approvingly as he watched.

"You told him to do that, didn't you?" Ash asked as he studied Drew's expression. "The Double-Slap trick—May's move."

Drew smirked back at him. "She didn't patent it, did she?"

"Remarkable!" Mr. Sukizo (predictably) commented.

"An amazing display of Skitty's cuteness, not to mention a great way to exemplify its Blizzard move." Contesta nodded approvingly.

"Absolutely adorable!" Nurse Joy cheered.

Atticus winked. "I'm not done yet."

Drew's eyes widened. "_What?!_"

"Skitty, give them back!" Skitty slapped the balls back at Atticus, who caught them easily. "Use Blizzard again—on the stage!" Skitty did as instructed.

"Amazing!" Lillian gasped. "He's turned the stage into a giant ice rink!"

"Now skate!" Atticus commanded. Skitty attempted to do as instructed…it just didn't turn out that way—Skitty obviously didn't know how to ice skate. Lillian and the judges sweatdropped.

"Uh…that's all, folks!" Atticus sweatdropped as well (out of embarrassment), returned Skitty, and hurried off the stage.

"It's no surprise he failed like that," Drew told the others. "We practiced that Double-Slap/Blizzard combo to perfection—he added that ice rink trick in there completely erratically; these things need to be rehearsed."

"So he won't move on?" Jesse asked dejectedly.

"Oh, no, he'll move on," Dawn assured them. "His first few minutes assured him of that. But that falter's gonna cost him."

A few moments later, it was Syrus's turn. "G-go, Piplup?" Syrus stuttered it so nervously, it sounded like he was asking Piplup whether or not it _wanted_ to come out. The Ball Capsule Seal's bright blue bubbles surrounded Piplup as it made its entrance. When Syrus saw how awesome that looked, his confidence was slightly boosted…at least enough that he would stop stuttering and sounding like he was asking "Am I doing this right?"

"Bubblebeam, Piplup!" Syrus said (he was too nervous to shout it). The pale blue of Piplup's natural bubbles mixed beautifully with the brightness of the manufactured ones surrounding the Pokémon. "Now, use Peck!" Piplup popped all the bubbles as the crowd cheered and Lillian and the judges sung their praises.

"Isn't that what you did _your_ first Contest, Dawn?" Ash recalled.

"That's right," Dawn asserted. "Drew and I figured that it would be easier for their first Contest if they didn't have to think up their own combos, especially since they've never even _seen_ a Contest before."

"Didn't Syrus do awfully well, Zane?" Bastion asked.

"…" Zane just stared straight ahead without answering.

Finally, the first round was over and the spectators could catch up with Syrus and Atticus backstage.

"You guys did great!" Jaden cheered. "That was so awesome!" Syrus blushed sheepishly while Atticus grinned.

"Hey!" Drew interrupted. "I think you mean that _Syrus_ did great." He turned to Atticus. "That stunt you pulled may have cost you the ribbon."

"Oh, come on," Atticus scoffed. "They loved it!"

"Yeah, _before_ you turned the stage into a giant ice rink and had your Pokémon trip and fall all over the place!"

"Can't you just shut up for two seconds?!" Chazz yelled angrily. "This may have cost him, sure, and you've learned your lesson, right, Atticus? You can yell at him some more if he doesn't go on to the next round, alright?"

"Fine," Drew said begrudgingly.

"Look!" Dawn pointed at the large screen displaying the stage, almost hitting Drew in the mouth. "They're announcing the people who moved on!"

"And the final four are as follows…" Lillian shouted as she pointed to the display screen. First, a picture of a girl wearing a Sherlock Holmes-style hat popped up onscreen. Then, it was a boy in a baseball cap that covered his eyes. The third person was…Syrus!

"Sy, you did it!" Dawn squealed, hugging Syrus, who was still in shock. "I knew you could!"

Atticus and Drew eyed each other, then stared at the screen again. Unbeknownst to either of them, they were both thinking the same thing:

_Come on, let him/me go on_…

After what seemed like forever, Atticus's picture appeared onscreen.

"Alright!" Atticus cheered.

Drew scowled. _I don't care what Chazz said_…_I'm chewing his head off, even if he _did_ move on_.

"Hi, there!" The group turned around to see the girl in the Sherlock Holmes hat.

"Hey, you're the girl who moved on, correct?" Bastion asked. "The one with the Jynx."

"That's right!" The girl held out her hand. "I'm Alyssa. I'm a Pokémon Detective."

"Charmed," Bastion held out his hand and shook her hers. He took note of her brown cloak, which matched her peculiar hat. "This is Zane, Aster, Jaden, Chazz, Jesse, Jim, Axel, Adrian, Ash, Brock, Dawn, Drew, and Max. You've already seen Syrus and Atticus in action."

"That's right. I can't wait for the second round—it's why I'm here. The more people I battle, the better." Her eyes darted left and right and she lowered her voice to a whisper. "I learn more that way. Of course, I learn a lot either way, cause I'm…_psychic_. I can get a reading on your mind, but I can't see your thoughts."

"Psychic? Really?" Truthfully, Bastion didn't believe this girl, but he figured it was best to play along.

"Yeah…" Alyssa stared at Bastion for a beat. "Dude, you're _weak_."

"Pardon?" Bastion asked, insulted.

"Are your _other_ friends less weak?"

"Well, I'll have you know—" Alyssa darted away before Bastion could finish.

"You're Drew, right?" she asked Drew, getting in his face so much that their noses were touching.

"Um, yeah." Drew took a large step back.

"You're _extremely_ vulnerable. Only a _little_ weak though: you fought back, but accepted it when you lost he battle…" Alyssa pulled out a notebook from his pocket and scribbled some words down.

"_Excuse_ me?!" Drew put his hands on his hips and scowled. "Who do you think you're _talking_ to?"

Alyssa ignored him and moved onto Max and Aster. "You're Max and…?"

"Aster…" Aster replied warily.

"You two are easily fooled, but you aren't vulnerable or weak," Alyssa diagnosed as she wrote more down and turned to Chazz.

"And you are?"

"The Chazz."

You're vulnerable, but not very weak…"

"What?!" Chazz exploded as Alyssa turned to Zane. "You…" she trailed off as Zane gave her a death-glare. "Never mind."

"You seven." Alyssa pointed at Syrus, Atticus, Jesse, Jim, Axel, Adrian, and Brock. "You aren't fooled, vulnerable, or weak. But you don't have any powers. You're kinda…neutral."

Finally Alyssa turned to Jaden and Ash. She got as close to their faces as she had to Drew's. "Ash…Kid in Red…you two have _powers_. Especially _you_. What was your name again?" She poked Jaden's nose.

"Uh…Jaden…"

"Jaden," Alyssa whispered. "You have great untapped power…"

She backed away and glanced at Syrus and Atticus. "See you in the final round." She waved and skipped away.

"That…was weird," Zane commented after she left.

"No kidding." Drew turned back to the screen. "Hey, guys. You'll be up soon. Look, there's who you're battling."

Indeed, the matchups were up. The first round was Atticus vs. Alyssa, then Syrus vs. Baseball Hat Kid.

GXGXGX

_Jaden_…Alyssa thought as she made her way to the stage. _You have so much untapped power_…_we must have it_.

Alyssa entered the Contest arena and saw Atticus, blowing kisses to the audience as they cheered for him. _He's a born entertainer, that one_…_looks kind, too_. _Too bad_ _that I'll have to destroy him to gain access to his friend's power_—_it's the only way to release that power inside him_…_I just have to get Jaden angry enough, get him _doubtful_ enough to unlock the power lying deep within him_…

_First Atticus, then the shrimp_, Alyssa decided. _Syrus seems to be the closet to Jaden_—_if destroying Atticus won't do it, destroying _him_ will_. _Then, after I win the Pewter Gym ribbon, Jaden Yuki's power will be at my disposal and TEAM LIGHT WILL RULE THE WORLD!_

GXGXGX

**Dun, dun, duuun!**

_**IMPORTANT!!!!!**_

**Just to clear a few things up, Alyssa is a disguised Team Light member (that's how she knew Max's name) who can tell if people have been in Team Light, have powers useful to (or the downfall of) Team Light, accepted being a member of Team Light, or were tricked into believing in Team Light. This is her code-thing:**

**Vulnerable: Has been brainwashed by the Light of Destruction before**

**Weak: Has accepted being a part of Team Light/Society of Light**

**Easily Fooled: Self-explanatory**

**Powers: Can defy destiny**

**Also, Alyssa is a POKÉMON **_**CHARACTER OF THE DAY**_**! AFTER THIS CONTEST SHE WILL NEVER APPEAR AGAIN!**

**And, after two requests, I gave in. Jaden's untapped power…well, let's just say you can guess if you've seen GX Season 3 (coughSupremeKingcough)**


	16. The Contest! Part 2

**Sorry I haven't updated in awhile! Busy week. Anyway…I don't own Pokémon **_**or**_** Yu-Gi-Oh GX. End of story.**

GXGXGX

"Our first match is Atticus vs. Alyssa!" Lillian announced. "You have five minutes to reduce the opponent's points as much as possible. The coordinator with the most points at the end of the battle wins! Let Round Two begin!"

"Let's go…" Alyssa shouted, doing a twirl with her Pokéball, "JYNX!"

"Why would she use the same Pokémon as the appeal?" Chazz asked as Alyssa's Jynx appeared. "Atticus already knows what some of its attacks are."

Drew stared at the stage, deep in thought. _She must have something planned_…

"Jynx, huh?" Atticus laughed. "I know all its attacks! I also know that it's weak against Fire types. Wow 'em, _Vulpix_!"

"Start the timer!" Lillian cheered.

"Vulpix, Will-O-Wisp!" Atticus shouted, causing blue flames to float toward Jynx.

"Wait for it…" Alyssa murmured. "_Now_! Jynx, use Psychic!" The balls of fire began to glow even more as they shot back toward Vulpix and met their mark. Vulpix cried out as it was forced backwards and Atticus's points fell.

"Ah! Vulpix, get back up!" Atticus cried.

"Jynx, now's your chance!" Alyssa shouted. "Lick!"

"Vulpix, counter fast—Ember!" Atticus got lucky; Vulpix's Ember attack scalded Jynx's tongue inches before it reached its target.

"AHH!" Jynx screamed, sounding almost human, as points were subtracted from Alyssa's score.

However, Alyssa didn't even notice the points. "Jynx! Heal your tongue—Powder Snow!" Snowflakes began to fall on the stage, smothering Vulpix and Jynx, who stuck her burned tongue out to catch them.

"Vulpix, don't let them touch you!" Atticus didn't know the Powder Snow move, but he figured it was better safe than sorry to avoid them.

Points were subtracts from Atticus's score because Alyssa made a beautiful move and from Alyssa's score because Vulpix dodged, even though it wasn't her intention to nail the Pokémon.

"Alright, Jynx, DoubleSlap!" Alyssa commanded.

Jynx did as she was told, slapping Vulpix once, twice, three times.

"Try Lick again, while it's down!" Alyssa quickly followed.

This time, Jynx's Lick attack succeeded. Vulpix dizzily swayed from side to side, costing Atticus more and more points.

"This one will finish them!" Alyssa encouraged. "_Ice Punch!_"

The Jynx seemed to move in slow motion as it made its way to Vulpix, nailed it, and sent it flying into Atticus. Seconds before Vulpix crashed into him, his eyes dulled and widened in revelation…

"And the winner is…Alyssa!" Lillian cheered.

"What?!" Drew leapt up in the stands as Atticus slowly got to his feet, his knocked-out Vulpix beside him. "He _lost_?!"

"Either he or Syrus would have to lose _eventually_," Max pointed out.

"Yeah, but this soon? And to _her_?! She's a freak!" Drew cupped his hands to his mouth. "ATTICUS! YOU ALRIGHT?!"

To everyone's surprise, Atticus began to laugh. "Alright?! I'm better than _alright_!" Then he left the stage, laughing the whole way.

Everyone glanced at each other, than stood up all at once and ran down to backstage. When Syrus came on, he looked to the stands for encouragement. Finding none, his eyes began to water, his confidence level fell as his nervousness level rose, and he messed up—big time.

GXGXGX

"Atticus!" Drew shouted as he pushed through the crowd backstage to reach Atticus. "What the hell was _that_?! Why the hell are you _laughing_?! You just freaking _lost_!"

"Drew!" Brock scolded, clamping his hand over Drew's mouth and glancing quickly at the younger kids around them, including Max. "You can cuss at him later, but not _here_."

Atticus grinned widely. "Alyssa _saved_ me, guys! She'll save Sy, too! And I bet if you ask nicely, she'll do the same for you guys!"

"What are you _talking_ about?" Aster folded his arms across his chest and glared pointedly.

"The unbeatable lightness of _seeing_ **(A/N: did you know that's actually a Pokémon episode?)**!" Atticus explained…more or less.

"_What?!_" The whole group asked.

"This is bad…" Jaden gasped.

"Why, Jay?" Jim turned to him.

"_Hello?_" Chazz answered for Jaden. "'Seeing'? '_Lightness_'? The only explanation is that Alyssa's part of Team Light, defeated Atticus, and here's the result." Chazz gestured to Atticus.

"Well, why don't you battle him, Ash?" Axel suggested. "You'll beat him no problem, and then we'll have our normal Atticus back…whether we want him or not."

Ash nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"Wait!" Bastion interrupted. "There might be another way, one that won't attract so much attention! Atticus…" Bastion turned to the aforementioned brainwashed boy. "…can I see your pack for a moment?"

"Sure!" White Atticus chirped cheerfully as he handed the bag over; he must not have been aware of who the enemy was here.

Bastion took the bag, searched through it for a few moments, then pulled out a small picture. "Atticus…who is this?"

Atticus took the photograph and inspected it for a few moments. He closed his eyes and reopened them—his dulled brown irises had begun to shine again as he continued to stare lovingly at the photograph. "Sis…Lexi…aw, man, my head hurts! What happened? Did I hit it or something?"

"How did you _do_ that?" Max asked Bastion in awe.

"Sometimes they can come out of brainwashing with a little push, instead of an all-out battle," Zane explained. "Personally, I prefer the latter, but, hey, whatever works, I guess."

"WHO'S THAT?!" Brock shouted, practically ripping Atticus's photograph from Bastion's hand.

"…Seriously, Brock?" Ash groaned. "Now?" Ash glanced over Brock's (who was practically drooling at the picture of Atticus's sister) shoulder disapprovingly. "I mean, _really_—God, she's _hot_!" Ash's mouth dropped open as he saw the picture of Alexis Rhodes.

Dawn "hmph"-ed, crossed her arms, and glared at the two idiot boys.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU BRING HER?!" Ash and Brock shouted simultaneously.

"Hmm…" Max mused. "I've never had to do this to _two_ people…" He promptly leapt up in between Ash and Brock, snagging both of their ears, one in each hand.

"Does this happen a lot?" Zane asked, taking note of Max's reaction.

Max shrugged, still keeping his grip on the boys' ears. "Pretty much every episode with Brock. But Ash doesn't normally do this."

Atticus took back his picture from Brock and returned it to his bag. "Thanks for that, guys. Since I was only a part of the team for a few seconds, I remember everything…which isn't helpful at all, is it?"

Drew shook his head. "Not really."

"Hey, GUYS!" Dawn suddenly screamed. "What about Syrus?"

They turned to the screen placed backstage; sure enough, Syrus had already begun to battle.

"What. Is. He. _Doing?!_" Drew growled angrily through gritted teeth. "Is he _nuts_?!" Syrus had made a big mistake (as previously mentioned)—when his opponent called out a Cubone, Sy had panicked and called out…Pachirisu.

"I _specifically_ explained to everyone that Electric types don't affect Ground—Pachirisu is _not _an exception!" Ash added, just as angry.

"He panicked!" Jaden defended his best friend. "We weren't there to cheer him on and he got all nervous again!"

Chazz snorted. "Don't forget whiney and spastic."

"_You're_ the one who's a spazz, Chazz," Bastion retaliated dully.

"Am not!"

"Chazz is a spazz!" Jaden sang.

"Stop that!"

"SHH!" Dawn hushed. "Watch Syrus!"

"I was stuck in a problem like this once…" Ash recalled. "Pikachu vs. Cubone."

"How'd you win?" Axel asked.

"I didn't."

"What?!" Jesse exclaimed.

"Well, I guess I _did_…technically…I had Pikachu bite and scratch at Cubone until it gave up…" Ash confessed sheepishly.

"Wait…doesn't Pachirisu know attacks that _aren't_ Electric-type? In fact, doesn't it only know _two_ electric moves?" Jim realized.

"Oh…right…" Ash blinked. "Let's just hope that Sy's just as quick with that as you are, Jim."

GXGXGX

_WhatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIDO?!_ Syrus mentally panicked. _Pachirisu can't even touch Cubone_—_what the heck was I thinking?!_ _Oh, that's right_—_I wasn't_. _Wait a second here_…Syrus glanced at his Pokémon, then at the points left on his meter. He had only been battling less than a minute, but his points were already cut in half. _If this doesn't work, nothing will_…

"Pachirisu, Sweet Kiss!" Syrus ordered. Surprised that Syrus had actually called an attack against him, his opponent faltered, giving just enough time for a direct hit, totally confusing Cubone and costing its owner his first points. "Now…um…" Sweet Kiss was Pachirisu's only Normal move, other than Spark and Discharge, both of which Sy had already tried. Well, only Normal move, unless you counted…

"That's it!" Syrus cried. "Pachirisu, use Last Resort!" The combined power of Last Resort, plus the fact that Syrus had managed to complete all the steps to use it (using every other move his Pokémon knew first), took down his opponent's points so far that they were almost equal to Syrus's. And then if you added the negative points for the fact that Cubone was so confused that it still attempting to head-butt the floor, Syrus was winning! By this time, there were only a few seconds left.

Both competitors simply stood there, Syrus praying that Cubone would stay confused until the clock ran out, and his opponent trying to snap his Pokémon out of it.

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

"And young Syrus Truesdale is the victor!" Lillian announced gleefully. "Stay tuned for the next battle: Syrus vs. Alyssa!"

GXGXGX

**As Lillian said, stay tuned! Also, don't expect an update for a while—this week's a test week, and then we have finals :(**


	17. Results, Q and A, and Legendaries

**Okay, so I lied**—**I updated relatively fast (the keyword in that sentence being "relatively").**

**First off, I'd like to make known my reasoning for ditching Pokeshipping, as I have gotten a few…er…I don't want to call them complaints, cause they weren't very angry (at least, that was the impression **_**I **_**got)…but you get the point. My reasoning was that I wanted to broaden my targeted victims—uh, did I say victims? I meant **_**reading audience**_**. I wanted to open this fic up to non-Pokeshippers. But, since I know that there are some people out there who like romance stories, I kept Contestshipping (I kept that one as opposed to Pokeshipping because I honestly don't think I am capable of writing a story with Drew and May together and not having the urge to sneak in little hints…and possibly some big hints).**

**So, that's my reasoning. On with Chapter 17, which features characters, themes, objects, and places that I don't own!**

GXGXGX

"You did great, Sy!" Dawn cheered as Syrus shakily entered backstage. "You're in the finals!"

"Wh-why weren't you guys there?" Syrus whimpered. "I looked in the stands and you weren't there."

"Uh…" Dawn glanced at the others. "There was a…_slight_ complication."

"The good news is that you have some added incentive for beating Alyssa!" Jaden exclaimed, hoping to put a positive spin on the situation.

"The bad news is that she'll probably squash you like a bug and brainwash you," Drew deadpanned. After everyone glared at him (_especially_ Zane—so he _does_ care!), he added a defensive "What?"

"Wait…'squash'? 'Brainwash'?" Syrus squeaked. "What do you guys mean?"

"Alyssa's TL, mate," Jim explained.

Syrus shot a nervous glance at Atticus. "So Atticus…?"

"Yeah, he was. But then Bastion showed him a picture of a really hot girl from his pack and Atticus snapped out of it," Ash explained.

"Oh, you mean _Alexis_," Syrus guessed. "Wait—why did Bastion have Alexis's pic in his bag?"

Ash sweatdropped. "Guess I didn't word that quite right—sorry. _Atticus_ had the picture; Bastion just took it out and showed it to him."

"Oh. Got it."

"So, anyway, now it's up to you to beat Alyssa, Sy," Jesse explained softly.

"WHAT?! NO! I can't beat Alyssa!" Syrus protested shrilly.

"Sy, it's the only way," Jaden tried. "Someone's got to beat her, and no one else is registered in the Contest."

Syrus moaned. "Why can't you beat her _beforehand_?"

"Uh…"

"This way, it strengthens the plot," Brock cut in. "It would be awfully boring for whoever is reading this for Ash to just jump in and beat her in two seconds." Everyone looked at him blankly. "Uh…never mind. Just get out there and beat her."

GXGXGX

**Due to the fact that the authoress hates writing battles, and that is usually what takes her so long to update, she has decided to cut the most climactic battle in the story so far.**

GXGXGX

"Pachirisu, Discharge!" Syrus commanded. After a long battle with Alyssa, it had finally come down to this last move. Ten seconds on the clock; if Alyssa could dodge, Syrus would lose. If she couldn't, then…

"Torkoal, Smoke Screen!" Smoke covered the stage at Alyssa's command as Pachirisu's lightning was shot right at her Pokémon. The timer hit 0, but they _literally_ had to wait until the smoke cleared to know the results. They couldn't tell from just looking at the screen, it was so close. But in the end…

"And the victor of the match and winner of the Pewter City Pokémon Contest Ribbon is…" Lillian paused for dramatic effect. "SYRUS TRUESDALE!"

Syrus stood there, stunned, immobile.

"GO UP AND GET THE RIBBON, YOU MORON!" Drew shouted cheerfully. Syrus's head snapped in Drew's direction, then in Lillian's. He stumbled over to her, taking the ribbon with shaking hands.

Jim was the only one who noticed Alyssa had collapsed where she had stood. He raced down to the stage and helped her up. "You alright, sheila?"

Alyssa groaned. "Yeah…but my name's _Alyssa_, not sheila."

Jim grinned, relieved—she was back to normal. "I know. Come on, let's get you to a Pokémon Center; you must be tired."

GXGXGX

"I'm glad we could help out Alyssa," Jaden said cheerfully as he (and everyone else) waved at the aforementioned girl's retreating figure as she disappeared over the horizon. "Too bad that psychic power thing disappeared after she became un-brainwashed."

There was quiet for a few moments.

"I say we hold a conference." Brock suddenly broke the silence. Everyone stared at him questioningly. "What I mean is, I'm sure you guys have a few last-minute questions to ask, right?" The duelists slowly nodded. "Good. Let's hold it in my room at the Gym. Then we can head out for Cerulean City."

Ash nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Let's get back to the Gym."

GXGXGX

"This is the 'Talking Pokéball **(A/N: you know, like the Talking Stick)**'." Ash explained, holding up an empty Pokéball and sitting cross-legged on the floor (as was everyone else, in a large circle). "Whoever has it gets to talk. You get the TP by raising your hand."

Jesse raised his hand and Ash tossed him the Pokéball. "Is this _really_ necessary?"

Ash raised his hand and Jesse passed the capture device back. "Yes. Now shut up."

"So…" Brock began.

"Hey!" Ash scolded, holding up the Pokéball.

Brock rolled his eyes and raised his hand, which caught the ball as Ash threw it. "Any questions?"

Jim raised his hand and Brock passed the ball. "Brock, Ash told me that you're a Pokémon 'breeder'; what is that?"

Jim flung the ball back at Brock, who easily caught it. "Glad you asked, Jim. Pokémon breeders are trainers who raise and mate Pokémon for improvements in future generations' genes—that's where the name came from, but most breeders don't specialize in this field. Some, like me, don't even breed Pokémon at all. In that case, their primary duties are monitoring, taking care of, and hatching Pokémon eggs, Pokémon grooming, and Pokémon nutrition. Sound like something you'd want to do?"

At the question, Brock tossed the ball back to Jim. "Yeah, actually." Jim smiled. "I've done stuff like that for normal animals, why not Pokémon?" He threw the Pokéball back.

"You know, Ash, this is getting really irritating," Brock noted as he caught the ball.

Ash raised his hand and Brock passed the aforementioned ball. "Then _maybe_ you two should discuss this somewhere else!"

"I think we will!" Brock countered. "Come on, Jim, we'll talk this over 'somewhere else'."

Jim shrugged as he stood up. "Fine by me. Don't have anymore questions, anyway."

As soon as the door closed behind the pair, Ash turned back to the group. "What about you guys? Do _you_ have anymore questions?"

Adrian raised his hand and Ash nodded, tossing the Pokéball. "Before we left, Chancellor Sheppard mentioned something about 'legendary' Pokémon. What are those?" Upon the question, Adrian tossed the ball back.

"I guess it's a good time to tell you this," Ash noted as he caught the ball. "Legendary Pokémon are Pokémon that are _extremely_ rare and powerful. There are two types: those that are in legends, like Groudon or Kyogre, and those that most don't even know if they exist, like Lugia or Mew. However, since _I_ have proved to the world that Lugia does, indeed, exist, that one can be taken off the list. Odds are that none of you will get a glimpse of any of the legendaries. I, on the other hand, have seen almost every legendary Pokémon out there." Ash smirked proudly.

"_Pika!_" Pikachu, who was sitting in Ash's lap, agreed. Like Ash, everyone had one of their Pokémon outside their ball. They would have had all their Pokémon out, but Brock's room wasn't big enough.

Drew snorted disbelievingly. "_Roserade!_" his Pokémon laughed.

"It's true!" Ash insisted. "I've seen Deoxys, Ho-oh, Lugia, Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno, Suicune, Celebi, Palkia, Dialga…" Dawn nodded in agreement at the last two.

"But have you ever _caught_—" Drew started.

"I _told_ you, use the POKÉBALL!" Ash yelled as he chucked the Pokéball at Drew's stomach.

"_**AH!**_" Drew gasped as he doubled over. "_**ASH!**_"

"Oops," Ash laughed. "I really have to work on my aim! You know, I always _have_ thrown things a _little_ lower than I mean to…"

"ASH! Ah, DAMMIT!" Drew panted, and then yelled out a whole other string of curses.

"Aw, suck it up, Drew," Aster gasped between fits of laughter.

"Let's see how you like it!" Drew flung the ball at Aster's lap while staying doubled over.

"Rock Smash, Riolu," Aster responded calmly. His Pokémon leapt in front of him, its outstretched fist meeting the Pokéball and cracking it into pieces. "Oops. Darn." Aster sighed, feigning depression, but at the same time barely containing his amusement. "Guess we can't use the Talking Pokéball anymore. Too bad."

"Don't worry!" Ash cheered. "I got a spare!"

An assortment of moans and groans followed.

GXGXGX

"_Legendary Pokémon are Pokémon that are _extremely_ rare and powerful"_…_"_extremely_ rare and powerful"_…_"powerful_…_"_

Adrian smirked as he stared up at the ceiling of the Pewter Gym. The group had to sleep in the Gym's arena since there was so many of them…himself, Jesse, Jim, Axel, Jaden, Syrus, Atticus, Chazz, Aster, Zane, Bastion, Ash, Drew, Dawn, Max, and Brock. **(A/N: I just figured that I'd list everyone in the group so far to remind everyone…)**.

_I'll find those legendary Pokémon, conquer this world, and then_…_then I'll take over _our _world_. _No one knows about Pokémon over there; they'll be known far and wide as tools of death_…_and I'll be the only one who has them_…

GXGXGX

"By the time we get to Cerulean, I want you all to have a full team. Shouldn't be too difficult, considering the fact that you've each got four strong Pokémon and we only went from Pallet to Pewter," Ash announced as he paced back and forth in front of the duelists. "At Cerulean, we'll—I mean, _you_'ll—challenge Misty's sisters. Unfortunately, Sy, Atticus, Drew, Dawn, there aren't any Contests in Cerulean. There probably won't be for awhile. Also, by the time we get to Cerulean, we'll be closer to the hive. If you thought there were a lot of TL zombies out here, just wait until we get closer to them."

GXGXGX

**Next chapter should be relatively short**—**we'll be checking up on Duel Academy and there should be a little background info on Sheppard's and Oak's relationship (yes, I know how that sounds, just disregard the wording—it's not like that)…**


	18. Meanwhile

**Sorry it took me forever to get an update, but finals week is still on. As promised, here's look at Duel Academy…**

…**which I do not own.**

GXGXGX

"No, but—I _know_, but…ugh! Ya know what, just _forget_ it!" Hassleberry angrily pressed the OFF button on his phone and jammed it into his pocket. He turned to Alexis and Blair. "No luck," he moaned. "Ma and Pop won't give in. Sheppard said if I could convince them, then…" He sighed heavily and changed the subject. "Sarge and Private Truesdale promised they would call; they haven't yet."

"Yeah…" Alexis nodded and bit her lip worriedly. "Atti promised the same thing, but _he_ hasn't called either. I wish I was there with him…"

"I wish _I_ was there, too," Blair agreed.

Alexis raised an eyebrow. "You came as soon as Jaden started his duel with Sartorius. You don't know any more about the LOD than the transfer students."

"Yeah, but _they _got to go!" Blair whined.

"LOD?" Hassleberry repeated.

"L-O-D: Light of Destruction," Alexis explained. "And, Blair, you're, what, _ten_?"

"And a _half_," Blair corrected. "But anyway, what's your point?"

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Do you _honestly_ think Sheppard will let you go when you're almost half the age of the people who went?"

"Almost _half_?! _Hello_, check you math!"

"Hey! You two, break up the catfight!" Hassleberry roared. "The fact stands that none of us can go. I guess we'll just have to wait around for someone to call…"

"Wait…" Alexis's amber eyes widened. "Why wait around…when we can call them?"

"Hm. Didn't really think of that," Hassleberry admitted.

"I call calling Jaden!" Blair screamed.

Alexis scowled. "No, _I'm_ calling Jaden!"

Hassleberry rolled his eyes. "_I'll_ call Sarge. Alexis, call your brother, Blair, call Private Truesdale. Move out, troops!"

GXGXGX

Waves crashed against the cement under Alexis's feet. She was leaning against the light house she had become familiar with over the years, her cell phone pressed to her ear.

"_Yo, yo! You've reached Atticus Rhodes_—" Alexis rolled her eyes "—_but I can't answer right now_._ Ya see, I'm off fighting an evil alien from outer space in another dimension, so you can't really blame me for not coming to the phone_._ Now, I'm not sure how you got connection if you're my sister or somebody, but_—" A beep cut her brother's voice off so Alexis could leave a message.

"Hey, Atticus, it's Alexis…you sister. You know, the one you forgot to call." Alexis scowled as she spoke the last sentence. "We—me, Hassleberry, and Blair—wanted to see how you were. You guys _did_ say you would call…Hassleberry and Blair are trying Jay and Sy, respectively. Let us know what it's like over there, 'kay?" She paused and closed her eyes. "I miss you guys. So do the others. Heck, I even miss your stupid—" her voice cracked a little and a tear leaked out of the corner of her right eye— "show biz schemes. I love you, bro, and I miss you so much. Hope to see you soon. Bye."

Alexis hung up her phone and trudged back to the dorm, where Hassleberry had stayed to call Jaden. As Alexis might have suspected, Blair has already back from calling Syrus, hanging on to Hassleberry's every word….

"So we hope you guys are doing A-okay over there…" Hassleberry was saying as Alexis shuffled miserably through the door.

"Tell Jaden I miss him," Blair demanded in a hushed whisper.

"And call back real soon, ya hear?"

"Tell him that I miss him."

"And keep us up to date on how many Society dorks you beat…"

"_Tell him_."

"And I guess we'll see ya'll when ya'll get back."

"Tell. Him. Now."

"And we _all_—" Hassleberry glanced pointedly at Blair "—miss ya."

"_**ESPECIALLY ME, JADEN!**_" Blair screamed.

Hassleberry sighed. "That was Private Flannigan. Call back soon!" He hung up.

"No answer?" Alexis guessed.

Hassleberry shook his head. "No answer from Private Truesdale, either."

"So I guess we really _do_ have to wait…" Blair moaned.

"Well, ladies, it looks like there's only one thing to do."

"And that is?" Alexis arched an eyebrow.

"Go and hang with my new platoon of Ra Yellows." Hassleberry raced out the door to join the Ra students that he had recruited to hang around with him to save his reputation.

Alexis and Blair rolled their eyes. "Whatever. You know, there's something I was curious about ever since we got this Pokémon invitation. I'm going to Chancellor Sheppard's office." Alexis glided out the door, leaving Blair by herself in the dorm.

GXGXGX

"Alexis Rhodes to see you, sir," Chancellor Sheppard's secretary's voice blared through his phone stand.

_Hm_._ Why would Miss Rhodes want to see me? Perhaps she has reconsidered about helping in the other dimension!_ Chancellor Shepard thought gleefully as he pressed the button to give his reply. "Send her in, Barb."

A few moments later, the door opened and Alexis gracefully strode through the entrance. "Chancellor Sheppard, if you don't mind, I have a question."

"Yes, Alexis?" Sheppard was slightly taken aback at her abruptness

"If you live in different dimensions…how do you know Professor Oak?"

"I figured one of you would come ask me that eventually." Sheppard sighed. "Well…it all started with the invention of the Inter-Dimension Transporter, or IDT. At the time, Oak and I were children living in the Pokémon dimension."

Alexis's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes. My parents volunteered our family to test out the IDT. There were a whole lot of legal issues and details that I won't bore you with, but the bottom-line is that I've been living here ever since. However, I have kept in contact with Oak using the IDC. The C stands for Communicator—think of it as the IDT's earliest form."

Alexis nodded. "I see."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, thank you for clearing that up for me." Alexis smiled and left, still trying to take in what she had heard. _Chancellor Sheppard used to live in another dimension_…_?_

GXGXGX

**I found this chapter rather boring, so I decided to make it rather short…compared to every other chapter except Chapter 1.**

**Okay, I wouldn't expect an update until late June…**

**I'll also give you Bastion's, Zane's, and Max's Pokémon teams…next chapter, because I want to get this one up ASAP.**

**If you want to give me any ideas for their teams, that's good…cause all I know is that Zane's going to have dragons, Bastion will have a really well-organized team (cause, well, he's **_**Bastion**_**), Max will just have random Pokémon like Ash, and his starter will be Treeko…you have till late June, which is a lot more time than that last vote-thing I did…**

**Yup, that's about it. Hope to hear from you!**


	19. Group Stall to the Rescue!

**Alright, I barely got any votes for the last chapter, so PLEASE VOTE!! I'll hold off on creating the teams for another chapter and I'll just be open to votes until I get enough, but I still need those votes!!**

**Also, I put some movie characters in for some cameos, cause I felt bad for the poor movie characters who were seen once and never again, especially the ones from **_**Destiny Deoxys**_**—I just re-watched that movie and have decided it's my favorite since the third one. Plus, it's the 7****th**** movie, and 7 is my favorite number.**

**I don't own Pokémon or GX. Just thought I'd remind everyone.**

**Also, a note to ****jjb88****: I like that idea—mind if I use it? (Of course you don't, you suggested it.) The only thing I object to is the amount of power your suggested Pokémon has. I mean, that's a lot of attack moves it's got, on top of its ability to speak English—it's a little…much.**

GXGXGX

"Ash, we have a problem." Dawn strode up to the boy she was addressing apprehensively, with Brock and Chazz at her side. She wasn't quite sure why Chazz was there, but she didn't really care at the moment.

"Again?" Ash moaned.

"Yes, again."

Chazz spoke up. "Don't worry, this time it's not your twin."

"Why are you still calling Aster my twin?! We're both arrogant—so what? You are too. Maybe you can be our triplet!" Ash snapped.

"Hmph." Chazz scowled.

"Anyway, Chazz is right, it's not another Aster-centered argument that's the problem," Dawn cut in. "There's a group of TL members headed our way. Jesse spotted 'a bunch of people in white headed our way' while he was out looking for more Pokémon. I'd bet my ribbons it's them."

"So? We're strong enough, we can take them! Or—" Ash's confidence waned as something dawned on him. "—that isn't the problem, is it?"

"No," Brock asserted. "It's an obviously organized attack planned with our strength in mind. There are sixteen of us and, from Jesse's description, there are at least fifty of them. I don't think we can take them."

"Who's leading the attack?"

"If Jesse purposely got close enough to tell, I would worry about his sanity. Not that I don't now. Heck, I've wondered about each and every one of these people at some point—no offense." Brock quickly added, with a sideways glance at Chazz, whom the breeder had forgotten was there.

Chazz sneered: offense taken.

"What do you suggest, then?" Ash moaned. Frankly, he was sick of playing leader—he'd been leader for four years for crying out loud! When he became a Pokémon Master, he was finally able to go off on his own, and if his decisions didn't turn out well…then the only one who suffered for it was him and him alone.

"We have to avoid them." Max spoke as he and Bastion suddenly appeared and stepped up to the small group. "There's no other choice. I don't especially _want_ to run away, but…there's no other choice."

"But they'll catch up to us," Dawn protested.

"I doubt it—they have more people to slow them down," Bastion pointed out.

"Yeah, more people with one-track, brainwashed minds! If they _are_ after us—which is pretty likely—then that's they're only goal. They won't give up—we _can't_ just run."

"What do you propose we do then?"

"Stay back and fight."

"And you honestly believe that we can beat every single one of them without losing a single battle ourselves? Besides, our Pokémon would tire after a while of non-stop battle."

"Well, then we need a distraction to at _least_ lessen their ranks while everyone else gets away—"

"_No_," Ash said forcefully. "Absolutely not. I'm not leaving anyone else behind."

"What if we volunteer?" asked a voice from the trees. The group turned around to see…

"Tracey?!" Ash gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to help you out, Ash. And you better not say no, because I spent a hell of a long time tracking down these people." Tracey gestured to the trees he had come from and roughly thirty people emerged from them. "So what do you need?"

"Wha—? Tracey! How did you find them?!" Ash shouted, thoroughly stunned.

"As I said—it took a hell of a long time."

One of the people from the crowd stepped forward—he looked about Ash's age, like about half of the others. He gave Ash a thumbs up. "Sure did. But we're here now. As Tracey asked, what do you need? Besides a rematch, I mean. I heard you were a Pokémon Master now—I'm sure you won't let me walk away with a victory over you."

"Got that right, Rafe!" Ash cheered.

A blond girl about Max's age stepped forward. "I want a battle, too, Ash. I'm a trainer now, and a really strong one, too."

"Little Molly?" Ash laughed. "Is that you? Jeez, I haven't seen you since—"

"I kidnapped your mother?"

"Uh…yeah, that." Ash and Molly both sweatdropped.

"Wow, there's so many of you here…" Brock gasped in awe. "There's someone here for almost all of our largest adventures…more than one for some of them. Tracey, this is incredible!"

"And we're all at your disposal. _We'll_ hold off those Team Light members, while you make a break for Cerulean. Or do you need our help with something else…?"

"Now that you mention it, we _could_ use _some_ of your help with something," Drew said, coming forward with the rest of the GX crew.

"Drew…" Ash said warningly. "We don't have time. If she finds us, that's terrific, but we aren't going to go looking."

"And why not?" Drew gave Ash a glare that could beat Chazz's _and_ Aster's—combined. Ash glared right back.

"Who?" Tracey asked.

"May," Ash and Drew answered simultaneously.

"May?" another boy—they would later find out his name was Sid—gasped. "Well, we've _gotta_ help May! Tell you what, how about Drew, Max, and I go looking for her? The rest of our little army can keep back TL, while the rest of _you_ go to Cerulean."

"As much as I hate to cut down the arguing…" Ash glanced at Aster "…that's a pretty good plan. And, as much as I believe you _won't_ find her—she could be anywhere in Hoenn—if you really want to, by all means."

"In that case, it will probably be safer with you." The first boy—Ash had called him Rafe—glanced at two twin girls by his side. They resembled him—those who didn't know them guessed they were Rafe's sisters. "Audrey, Kathryn, go with Sid and the others."

The twins looked shocked, but obeyed and went to stand by Sid nevertheless.

"I'm still not comfortable leaving the rest of you alone to face them—" Ash started.

"That's just too bad, Ash. Because we aren't taking no for an answer. I'll see you later, 'kay?" Tracey turned to people he had gathered. "Group May, stay here. Group Stall, follow me. Let's move out!" Tracey raced over the hill, the majority of his group following him, before Ash could stop them.

"Alright, Group…er, _May_, follow me!" Drew shouted, darting into the woods, with Max, Sid, Audrey, and Kathryn following.

"And the rest of you—" Ash turned to the people left, including the GX gang "—run like crazy!" He turned to the general direction of Cerulean City and took off.

Now, at this point, the GX people had virtually no idea what the heck was going on, nor did they know who the people from the woods were. The most they could guess was that they were more friends of Ash's. Regardless, though after a moment's hesitation, they followed Ash.

"Hey, Ash," Jaden panted, catching up to him. "Who _were _those people?"

"Remember how I said I met a bunch of legendaries? Well, those were people who were with me when I saw them. I haven't seen most of those people since," Ash answered. "With the exception of Tracey. He not only saw a legendary with me, but traveled with me, too, when Brock left to work for a lady named Professor Ivy."

Brock grimaced. "That didn't end so well."

"Don't bother asking why he says that; he still hasn't told me to this day," Ash commented as Jaden opened his mouth to say something.

"Hey, is that…a Pokémon Center?" Jim shouted, pointing a what was indeed a Pokémon Center. "We can't be in Cerulean yet, can we?"

"Actually, this is Mt Moon," Ash explained. "This is the only PC from here to Cerulean. We can hide out in here for a bit, but I'd rather not. If TL catches up with us…well, I just don't want that to happen."

"Especially because it would mean that the twenty-some people who stalled for us failed," Dawn added. "It would be horrible if they sacrificed themselves for nothing."

"Then we keep moving," Axel concluded.

"We should rest up our Pokémon in the PC, though," Brock argued. "It would _also_ be 'horrible' if all our Pokémon were weak going into Mt Moon."

"_Pika!_" Pikachu agreed, nodding its head.

"Fortunately, they have a new machine that will restore their energy in seconds—we wouldn't have to stop for very long at all. Probably four to eight minutes before we can leave."

"Fine," Ash relented. "We'll rest our Pokémon. But we need to do it as quickly as possible."

GXGXGX

**Nothing exciting happens in Mt Moon. They are in and out. That's all.**

GXGXGX

"THAT WAS WORSE THAN THE FOREST OF DOOM!" Jaden shrieked.

"I wouldn't go quite that far, but that _was_ a pretty dark cave…" Adrian muttered. "Plus there weren't any Pokémon we could catch. We all caught one since Pewter City—Jaden has a Trapinch, Syrus a Mime Jr., Chazz a Sneasel, Atticus a Luvdisc, Aster a Houndour, Jesse a Ponyta, Jim a Cranidos, Axel a Growlithe, and myself a Seviper—but we still need another one each." The six-Pokémon-each-by-the-time-we-reach-Cerulean-rule Ash had established for the GX gang didn't apply to Zane or Bastion, who, regardless, had captured five as well.

"I'm not sure if it's good news or bad, but Nurse Joy hasn't called back yet," Atticus said, checking his phone for missed calls.

Brock pouted and scowled at a tree—they were only in a Pokémon Center for two seconds and Atticus had _already_ gotten Nurse Joy's number _and_ a promise that she would call him and report whether anyone came by the PC—especially anyone dressed in white. Brock had been trying to get a _response_ from her (let alone her number) for _four years_ and it had only taken Atticus _two seconds_!

"That must mean that they're still stalling," Atticus continued. "Tracey said he'd see us later, right? It must mean he was planning to follow us when they were done. The fact that no one showed must also mean that Drew, Max, and those other three haven't found May yet."

"Well, I wasn't expecting them to so soon. Just because Max made it that far, it doesn't mean his sister did—he's short, but awfully fast when he needs to be," Ash replied. "They'll probably find May somewhere closer to TL HQ. I'm sort of surprised that no one has shown up yet, though. Mt Moon was pretty uneventful, but we were in there for awhile—I thought that _someone_ would have made it out of the battle by now."

"Wait…guys, what's that?" Jesse pointed at the trees on their right.

"_Don'tbeTeamLightdon'tbeTeamLightdon'tbeTeamLight_…" Syrus whispered to himself.

Jesse gestured toward the others and Jaden, Aster, Jim, Axel, Adrian, and Chazz (while muttering something about "if Slacker and Pro-boy can do it, so can I") followed him in inspecting the bushes.

"I found something!" Jaden exclaimed, holding up a piece of white cloth that had been stuck on a tree branch.

"Team Light," Chazz diagnosed, peering over Jaden's shoulder. "They were here. But it must have been some kind of scout, or they would have taken us on. And they weren't part of that big army that was tailing us, or that Nurse What's-Her-Face—"

"Joy!" Brock corrected angrily.

"Yeah, yeah." Chazz waved his hand in Brock's general direction. "Or Nurse _Joy_ would have called."

"That means we have to keep up a fast pace, or they'll catch up," Dawn concluded.

GXGXGX

**Couldn't really think of a good way to end the chapter, so that's it. It's one in the morning, and I'm actually starting to get slightly tired after that soda and popcorn, so I kinda need to end it…now.  
**

**Remember, I need votes!**

…**and reviews, those are nice, too.**


End file.
